


On the Road We Took to Avoid It

by pineappleyogurt (musicforlife101)



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And she hates them, Avoiding paradoxes like the plague, Canon Divergence - s01e16 Legendary, Canonical Character Death, Crossover, Doctor Who References, Episode Fix-it: s01e15 Destiny, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Leonard Snart Lives, Lots of references and quotes, Mick is not good with crying women, Mick understands time travel, Sara has emotions, Sara is a better captain than Rip, Team Flash, Temporal Paradox, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-02 23:58:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8688640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicforlife101/pseuds/pineappleyogurt
Summary: "A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." - Jean de la FontaineThere's something brewing in Sara's little blonde head, something much more troubling than grief. If the timeline and the almighty - and dead, ha! - Time Masters think she's going to sit back and mourn because it's destiny, then they haven't been paying attention.No doubt they'll hit snags and have to preempt universe-ending paradoxes, but Sara Lance can charm the pants off anyone, even Time.Destiny fix-it that diverges from canon at the beginning of S1 Ep16 Legendary, and handles the tumultuous early stages of grief. Also, an excuse to shamelessly quote Doctor Who.





	1. A Paradox of Motivation

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this almost since Destiny aired, trying to fix it in a way that also deals with paradoxes (with a distinct nod to Doctor Who time rules-ish). I'm nearly finished with this, but I also want to continue in this universe when I'm done, so I might post some short stories of their adventures after they save the world and all their friends.
> 
> I was inspired by a speech the Eleventh Doctor gives to Amy about Rory falling out of the world.
> 
> Title from Jean de la Fontaine: "A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it."
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own these lovely DC characters, or any dialogue quoted directly from episodes or from other sources.

“You knew that Laurel was going to die, and now you’re going to take me back, and I’m going to save my sister.” Rip’s ragged breath brought the skin of his neck into contact with the sharp edge of Sara’s blade.

“I’m afraid that –”

“You should be afraid.” The look in her eyes, he was afraid.

“I can’t allow you –”

“I don’t care about the timeline. You’re taking me back now.”

“Look Sara, I’m sure there’s a valid reason why Rip didn’t –”

She jabbed a finger in Ray’s direction. “Stay out of this!” When she turned back to face Rip, there was a bright flash and she was out. Mick caught her before she fell, draping her over one shoulder.

“Mr. Rory, take Ms. Lance to sleep it off.” Mick grunted and carried her from the bridge. He didn’t like this.

An uneasy silence settled over the remaining members of the team. Rip opened his mouth to continue the conversation.

Ray grimaced and Jax cut in, “I don’t think we should talk about next moves without Sara.”

“I believe Ms. Lance has made her preferred _next move_ abundantly clear,” Rip said.

“It doesn’t feel right to discuss this without her,” Ray said.

“I must agree with Raymond and Jefferson. Perhaps once Ms. Lance has calmed down, she will be open to a discussion of our options, without weaponry.”

Rip looked around, and seeing no support for continuing the conversation without Sara, nodded. He retreated into his study and left the team to get reacquainted with their rooms.

* * *

Sara woke alone in her room on the Waverider. Rip must have knocked her out with his stupid flash-gun. She sighed and stared at the smooth metal ceiling above her bed. After a long moment, she sat up and slid off her bed. She opened the door and stepped into the hall, almost tripping over two long legs in the process.

“Hey birdie, glad you’re up.”

“Did you tuck me in Mick?” she asked, trying a teasing smile, but it fell flat.

He shrugged. “Sorry about Hunter knocking you out. He was quick about it. But you had this look in your eyes.” Sara shrugged a little, lips pulling to one side. “I think Hunter’s scared of you.”

“Goddamn right he should be scared of me.”

Mick smirked. “Everyone else is still on the bridge. I think.”

She let out a breath and nodded. “Thanks Mick.”

“For what?”

“For staying.” He quirked an odd smile and got to his feet. Together, they walked to the bridge. Sara fell silent again, hands in her jacket pockets and eyes on the floor. There was something brewing in her little blonde head, something more troubling than grief.

When they reached the bridge, everyone was still there, spread out and not talking to Rip, who sat alone in his study. Jax sat in his usual seat, one foot resting on top of the other, and not looking at anyone. None of this sat right with him. Stein and Palmer stood off to the side, discussing something about the Waverider in hushed tones. They looked up when Sara and Mick walked in, but Sara didn’t look at them, making a beeline for the chair Leonard usually occupied. She dropped to the floor beside it, leaning against it and touching only the metal so she wasn’t constantly reminded that the seat was empty.

“Man,” Jax said, “this isn’t right.” They all looked at him. Even Rip heaved himself from his armchair. “We have a time machine and we still can’t go back and fix things or save the people we love, even though the Time Masters can’t control jack squat anymore. How is that okay?” He looked at Rip with accusation.

The former Time Master grimaced. “We can’t save Laurel. I understand the desire, believe me, but the original lay of the timeline with Sara there, even with all of us there, only resulted in more death.” Sara nodded numbly. “Think of it as a fixed point in time. Laurel’s death has to happen. We can either try to stop it and make the situation worse, or call her death the lesser of the evils, callous though that may sound.”

“What about Snart?” Ray asked. “He died to save all of us. It was supposed to be me. His death wasn’t engineered by the Time Masters at all. Is that a fixed point?”

Rip frowned deeply. “I don’t know. Without the Oculus, we have no timeline data except that which Gideon has stored from her last update, which could be woefully inaccurate now that the Time Masters are not manipulating events.”

“So you’re saying maybe we can save him?” Jax asked.

“I don’t know, Mr. Jackson! I have no way of knowing!”

A loud, ringing silence fell over the bridge. It was the kind of silence that settled after a bomb went off, everything still reeling from the blast.

Jax broke it first. “We have to go back. There has to be some way to fix it.”

“We’d be flying without a map, or rather, with only a very old map. We have no idea what kind of effect saving Mr. Snart’s life could have on time,” Rip said.

“Grey sent me back and his past self helped me get here. And the universe didn’t explode.”

Mick dropped his hand onto the back of Jax’s chair. “That paradox is circular, kid. Your trip to 2016 caused your experiences on the ship, which caused you to go back to 2016, which caused your experiences on the ship. See? Circular.” Stein raised an eyebrow. Mick discussing temporal science as if it were simple arithmetic would never fail to surprise him.

“So, we can’t actually change things on purpose,” Ray said. “We came on this mission to change things.” Rip grimaced.

“It’s a paradox. One of motivation,” Rip said. He tried to stutter out an explanation, but Mick beat him to it.

“If you go back in time to kill a man before he can kill your father, and you succeed, then your father will never have been killed. So you were never motivated to go back in time and kill the man who killed your father, which means he lives and goes on to kill your father. Not circular.” He leveled a steely gaze at Rip. Controlling a paradox that was not self-sustaining could be very dangerous.

“If Mr. Rory is correct, how would you remedy the paradox to save your family?” Stein asked.

Rip bit his lip. God this conversation was becoming uncomfortable. “I had considered a paradox machine.”

“That sounds bad,” Jax said.

“It’s what the Time Masters used to sustain the paradoxes from their perversion of the timeline in the Oculus.”

“Yeah, you’re not helping your argument,” Jax said. Sara shifted uncomfortably where she sat on the floor. She hadn’t spoken in a long time, just fiddled with a playing card she’d pulled from her pocket and stared past them. They’d mostly let her be, aside from a concerned glance now and then.

“As terrible as they undoubtedly are, the Time Masters did seem to have the paradoxes under control,” Stein said. “Perhaps this machine would work.”

Rip wanted to agree. “It was always ill advised. A paradox of this magnitude would require constant supervision and adjustment. At best, events will revert. At worst, it could rip a hole in the fabric of space-time.”

“Neither outcome is preferable,” Stein said.

“What if we change events after we’ve experienced them,” Sara said. Everyone stared at her. Wet blue eyes looked back, sparking with something fierce and frightening.

“Ms. Lance, I’m sorry, but we have already discussed the paradox that will create,” Rip said. He paused. Then more gently, “We can’t change events that have motivated us, Sara.” It felt both freeing and terrible to say it, to admit the thing he’d been denying for so long.

A dangerous smile twisted her lips. “No.” Rip blinked in surprise. “We change the events after our past selves have experienced them. If we can get your family onto the Waverider immediately after Savage shoots them, Gideon might be able to save them.” She paused, flipped the playing card in her fingers. Jack of Hearts. “If we can find another way to hold the failsafe, even for the last few seconds, we can extract Leonard in time.” She looked right at Mick. Then at Rip. This was the crucial piece. “After our past selves have left.” Rip’s eyebrow rose. “The Oculus will blow, and we will assume Leonard is dead, but he’ll be alive on a future version of the Waverider. Our motivation is still there.”

“We don’t prevent the events that motivate us, only fix them after our past selves have been motivated. That’s excellent, Ms. Lance,” Stein said.

Sara glanced at Mick. “You were Chronos, will it work?”

“Depends on the plan. But it won’t cause a paradox.” His voice dropped into something less gruff. “It’ll work, Sara.”

“We should rescue Snart first,” Ray said. “We’ll need to be at full strength to take on Savage in 2166 and save Kendra, once we get your family on board.”

“Except we’re not taking on Savage. Not yet,” Sara said. In that moment, still sitting on the floor of the bridge, she looked more like the captain than Rip.

“But –” Ray started.

“We’re on a time ship, Ray. We won’t be late.” Her voice was steel, and her friends wondered if she knew how cold it had become, how very like their fallen comrade she sounded. “We snatch Rip’s family first, while Ray and Mick put together a 3D holo model of the Oculus and the fail safe. We can’t do this without a plan.”

There was a short pause. “Right,” Ray said, stumbling to get his words out. “We’ll do that.” He nodded decisively. Mick snorted and Sara seemed to understand that it was directed at his designated partner.

“Rip,” she said, turning to the Time Master. “Do we have short range, individual teleports?”

“Yes,” he said, eyes widening a bit. Why did he even bother being surprised anymore?

“Good, we’ll need two.”

“Ms. Lance, are you going to explain your plan to us?” Stein asked, not unkindly.

“We plant teleporters on Miranda and Jonas before they get to Savage. Then we hover nearby in the jump ship.”

“And when Savage walks away we teleport them on board!” Jax finished.

“Exactly.”

“But how will we plant the devices?” Stein asked. “I imagine telling them the plan could cause further issues.”

Rip hummed in thought. “Potentially. Knowing what’s coming could change how they react.”

Sara was smirking. “We’re not gonna tell them.” She raised the hand holding the playing card and flicked it dexterously through her fingers. “Leonard isn’t the only light-fingered one on this team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Sara's plan in action, grieving time with Sara and Mick, and observant teammates.
> 
> I don't have a set posting schedule, but I have at least three chapters after this already written, so you can expect more soon. As well as some little drabbles I've been playing around with, and "Killer, Klepto, and Pyro" my roommates S1 AU.
> 
> As always, thanks so much for reading, and comments, kudos, and bookmarks are always appreciated!!


	2. Messengers of Overwhelming Grief and Unspeakable Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phase one of Sara's plan is put into action, as something of a proof of concept. In the aftermath, the rest of the team observe her grief with varying levels of comprehension, and diverse expressions of empathy. And Sara and Mick have an emotional conversation that Mick is uncomfortable with on so many levels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness, but of power. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love." - Washington Irving
> 
> Grief is a strange beast, particularly in those whose psyches are already scarred. It has a tendency to strip away the so-called strength we thought we had built. So, I hope you feel I did at least some justice to Sara and her uncomfortable relationship with grief.
> 
> Thanks for all the great feedback! I'm so glad to be back and posting again after my own hiatus. (grad school plans, moving, DragonCon!!!, apartment hunting. It's been a busy few months.) Also, just a sidenote, I've changed my psuedonym (sorta) on here to match my tumblr username: pineappleyogurt.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Two hours after their brief planning session, Jax, Stein, and Sara sat on the cloaked jump ship, hovering over what had been, until recently, a peaceful English meadow. Now it was smoldering ash.

Jax sat in the pilot’s seat, ready to fly them out of there or take evasive action if necessary. Stein was really only along out of curiosity and to provide backup as Firestorm if they needed it. If Sara needed it. He could tell the last week had hit her very hard. And how could it not?

Sara sat toward the back of the jump ship near the door. The disc-like teleporters, smaller than a pager at a restaurant, sat on the floor in front of her, glowing with a soft blue light. She sat on the floor with her back against the seats, chin resting on one white-leather clad knee. And twirling the same playing card.

Stein watched her fingers carefully. Had Mr. Snart known about her skills? He suspected that he had. There wasn’t much Leonard Snart hadn’t been able to learn about his teammates, and especially about Sara Lance. Looking back now, Martin found their feelings for each other glaringly obvious. Though hindsight  _ was  _ 20/20. Did Rip understand just what she was doing for him? That she was waiting to save the person she loved in order to save the people  _ he _ loved. Especially when she would be more than excused the desire to save Snart first. When it would be justified, even. Rip was in a unique position to understand Sara’s choices, but Martin wasn’t entirely sure Rip did understand.

“Get ready, Sara. They just came over the hill,” Jax said, pointing at several figures through the front window. She tucked the card into a pocket on her leg and slid the teleporters up her sleeves. They bulged tightly against her forearms without restricting the movement of her wrists. She extended her staff and opened the rear door.

Stein and Jax watched as Sara fought her way past a handful of soldiers beneath them on her way toward the hill. It took her only a moment amongst the refugees to find Miranda and Jonas, a good distance in front of her. They were running in her direction. She closed her staff in a swift movement and tucked it into her belt. Sliding the teleporters down into her hands, Sara flitted through the chaos, between people, until she reached Rip’s family. She dropped the teleporters into their pockets as she passed, barely touching them as she sidestepped the crowd. They didn’t stop for her. Why would they? After a moment, she followed the press of people back toward the jump ship.

The three of them watched from above as Savage himself approached Miranda and Jonas. Jax wanted to cheer when the little boy spit in Savage’s face. Except that Savage had him shot barely a moment later. It felt like an eternity before Vandal Savage walked away and a past Rip came upon them. The moment he left, Sara hit the button and Miranda and Jonas’s prone forms materialized on the deck. Jax was already gunning the engine. The Waverider was two minutes away, but he was pretty sure he could make it in one.

Jax let Gideon dock the jump ship, gathering Jonas into his arms. Sara hefted Miranda over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry and they rushed toward the medbay as quickly and carefully as possible. Mick met them halfway, taking Miranda’s limp form with gentle hands and a gentler expression.

Sara got the distinct feeling, as she followed them toward medbay, that the others - Mick especially - were treating her like she was made of either glass or dynamite. She wasn’t sure which one bothered her more. She wondered, not for the first time, how much he knew about her connection with his criminal partner. More than he’d ever admit probably. She sighed and picked up her pace.

Gideon’s medical tech was busy working miracles when Sara walked in. Ray, Stein, Mick, and Jax stood near the back wall, just watching. Rip burst through the door a moment later.

“It worked.” In another situation, Sara would have been offended at his surprise that her plan had succeeded. But she understood his meaning. Feeling rather like she was intruding, Sara pulled her playing card out with two fingers, twiddling it back and forth just to keep her hands busy. “You saved them,” Rip breathed.

“Gideon’s still trying,” Jax said, voice as discomfited as Sara’s hands.

“Don’t thank us yet,” she said. “This might only prove that time can’t be rewritten, even when you play by its rules.”

“I can’t believe that,” Rip said. He turned to Sara, ignoring their audience. “Even if Gideon cannot save my family, you have already changed events we believed to be unchangeable. I will be able to lay them to rest. Even if we can’t save the people I love, it doesn’t mean we can’t save the one you do.” She blinked, the emotion in her eyes shuttered away. She nodded once, glanced at Miranda and Jonas bathed in blue light, and left the room.

Ray watched her retreating back and opened his mouth to speak.

But Jax beat him to it. “I’m not the only one seeing her weirdness with that card, am I?”

“No, Jefferson, you are not,” Stein replied.

“I get that she and Snart played cards together. A lot. But what’s up with it?” Ray asked.

“If I’m not mistaken,” Stein said, “she has been carrying the same card, the Jack of Hearts. Perhaps it has some significance, an inside joke the rest of us are not privy to.”

“You’re a smart man, Professor,” Mick cut in. “What else do you call a Jack?”

“Well, a knave, I suppose,” he said.

“A knave?” Jax asked.

“I believe it originally represented an attendant to a noble. But it may also mean a dishonest man,” Stein explained.

“A rogue,” Mick said. “A thief.”

“A thief of hearts,” Ray said.

“That’s rather romantic. And poetic,” Stein said.

Rip smiled, just a tight, little quirk. “I think Mr. Snart would have appreciated it.”

“He wouldn’t admit it. And he wouldn’t thank you for calling it romantic. But yeah, he’d’ve liked it,” Mick said. He pushed off the wall and followed Sara. Snart hadn’t said, but Mick didn’t need to be told; keeping an eye on Sara was his job now.

He found her in her room, sitting on her bed still in her leathers, running that damned playing card through her fingers. He could see, as plain as if he was still there, the places around the room she thought of as Leonard’s. Her eyes paused at each of them. A deck of cards sitting on her dresser. The doorframe. The stretch of bed to her left. The edge of her desk. The floor against the far wall. All the places Mick could imagine his best friend casually sprawled, as easily welcome in her space as she was in his. Mick crossed the room and leaned back against the bed to her right, leaned carefully and didn’t sprawl. Arms crossed over his chest and head tilted, he waited for her to speak.

“He said he was thinking about the future.” Mick didn’t nod, just grew very still. “For me. And for him. And for me and him.” God, she could still hear his voice. If she glanced to the left, she’d be able to feel the heat in his eyes. It was almost too much. “I –” A strangled noise escaped her throat. She pushed it down. “I told him if he wanted to steal a kiss, he’d have to be a hell of a thief.” Her fingers tightened on the card. “And he never had to steal one at all.” Mick almost wanted to touch her, to comfort her in some way, but this was way out of his depth. He could already hear the tears in her voice, even if they weren’t on her face. “I gave him one for free. Because he’d already stolen my heart.” She rubbed the corner of the card with her thumb. “And I let him.”

She sniffed. A few tears trickled unchecked down her cheeks. And in this quiet moment of waiting, not being able to move forward with her plan to save him until Miranda and Jonas were well enough to make the jump, they weren’t going to stop. Mick wrapped an arm around her, drawing her shuddering frame to rest against his chest. He could feel her tears wetting his shirt and he didn’t care.

“What if we can’t save him?” she whispered into his collar.

“We will.”

“But what if we can’t?”

“Then we go on doing what we’re doing. Snart made his choice. He made it for us. And he’d be pissed if he died for nothing.” She choked out a wet laugh. For a long while, they just sat there together. The last of Sara’s tears dampened Mick’s shirt. And if a few trickled into her hair, she didn’t mention it.

“I should have told him.” Mick hummed curiously. “That I thought about our future too. How I felt.”

“You did tell him.” Kind of. She knew what he meant.

“I should have told him sooner.”

“Maybe. But he knew. Not much got by Snart.”

“I just –” Mick cradled Sara’s face in his hands and pulled her away to look at him. How many times had Leonard wanted to touch her like this?

“We’re gonna get him back.” A tear trickled over his thumb and he didn’t bother to wipe it away. “But even if we don’t, he would want you to know that he was happier here, being a hero, breaking bones on the side of good, stealing bombs from bad guys, than he ever was knocking over banks and warehouses. A year ago he wouldn’t have believed it. And a month ago he wouldn’t have admitted it. But he  _ liked _ being a hero. He liked the person he was becoming with you. I’ve known him since he was a scrawny kid planning to break out of Juvie. And he’d never been as happy as he was here.” This only made her cry again, but she didn’t seem quite as sad. Mick hated dealing with emotions, and girls crying made him uncomfortable. (The last crying girl he’d handled was a 14 year-old Lisa, and he and Snart had just kicked the guy’s ass.) But this was Sara. And Kendra wasn’t here. And he was basically the only person left who really understood what she’d lost.

“He made me better,” she choked out. “He made me feel like I could be the best version of me. And so did Laurel. I haven’t felt like that was possible since the Gambit, since the first time I died.” His hands dropped to her shoulders, her frame still shaking with grief and maybe, he thought, exhaustion.

“You should get some sleep, Sara.” She shook her head. “Have you actually slept since –” Since our best friend died for us? Since you went home to a world suddenly lacking your sister?

She shook her head again. “Barely.”

“Sara, you have a responsibility to his memory, and hers.” Her look turned questioning, even as he registered the flash of pain in her eyes. “You have to keep being a hero, to remember that you’re not a killer anymore. You’re strong, and they wouldn’t want you to falter because of them.” She nodded slowly. This made sense to her. “And  _ we _ have a responsibility.” Now she looked even more confused. “To start bar fights wherever we go.” She gave him a watery smile. “But I have a responsibility, too. To watch out for you.”

“I can take care of myself, Mick.”

“I know. Snart knew. But he’d want someone to have your back, and that someone would end up being me.” She sighed. He was right. “He wouldn’t want you to run yourself into the ground. And neither would your sister. We’re stuck here for a while. Haircut and I are working on the holo model. You should sleep while you have the chance.”

“Fine.” He let go of her shoulders and stood, watching her warily. “I promise I’ll sleep. Go help Ray.”

He nodded and went for the door, stopping just inside. “Sara.” She looked at him. “I miss him too.” She nodded, setting her mouth in a firm line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: further planning with Mick, Ray, and Sara, medbay empathy from Stein, and a healthy dose of determination.
> 
> I currently have the next seven chapters fully written, and working on the eighth. I think, this will end up being 12-15 chapters in total. So I'm going to do my best to get them written quickly, and I'll try to keep posting a chapter every few days, no less than once a week.
> 
> You're all amazing, and your kudos and comments make me all warm and fuzzy inside.


	3. Faith Holding Out Its Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mick uses what the Time Masters gave him (to spite them), Sara focuses on the The Plan, and Gideon is more about fact and statistics than hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for all the support this fic is receiving! It makes me so delighted to see your kudos and read your comments!!
> 
> Couple of housekeeping notes: I just finished writing chapter 10, but I also just had a major computer crash. This fic (and most of my other current projects) is stored on google docs and hasn't been affected at all. I'm also taking a short road trip over the weekend (so I might get some writing done in the car, idk). And I'm writing for the Captain Canary Secret Santa. So this fic will be taking something of a backseat until I finish that. I'll still be posting, but probably no more than once a week until later in the month.
> 
> Thanks again for being awesome!

 

 _Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark. - George Iles_  

 

* * *

 

Five hours after he left Sara in her room, Mick and Ray had finished the model, though Miranda and Jonas were still touch-and-go. Alive, but critical. Gideon had told Rip that she was cautiously optimistic, a phrase she’d clearly downloaded from a textbook on bedside manner. But now that it looked like they might be able to jump sooner rather than later, Mick thought it would be best to have their plan solidified. So he went to wake up Sara.

The door to her room opened, but her bed was empty.

“Gideon, where’s Sara?”

“Ms. Lance has been asleep in Mr. Snart’s room for the last 2.75 hours.”

Mick let out the smallest of the frustrated grunts. Trust these two to not figure their shit out until one of them was dead. Typical. He walked down the hall to Snart’s room and opened the door. Sara was fast asleep on his bed, wearing one of his sweaters and a pair of leggings, and curled tightly around his pillow. Like she’d lived there for years. Like she’d lived there with him. Something dull ached in Mick’s chest and he stepped into the room.

Mick touched Sara’s shoulder. “Sara,” he said.

Her eyes snapped open. “Oh. It’s you.” Then she glanced around guiltily. “Sorry.”

“You okay?”

“Couldn’t sleep in my room.” The ‘couldn’t stop thinking about him’ hung unspoken but easily heard between them. She fiddled with the sleeve of Leonard’s sweater.

“Palmer and I are done with the model. Thought you’d want to plan now, so we’re ready when Hunter’s family stabilizes.” She nodded. “We’ll be on the bridge, birdie.” He stood and left without another word.

Sara sat on Leonard’s bed, his pillow in her lap, her hands tucked into the sleeves of his sweater. She should probably go back to her room and change. A shiver crawled up her spine at the thought. First Leonard and then Laurel. She didn’t know what grief was doing to her anymore. She glanced down at what she was wearing. Fuck it. Sliding down to sit on the step, she tugged on her grey canvas sneakers over bare feet. She tied them sloppily and headed for the bridge.

When she reached the bridge, Ray and Mick stood at the console arguing over the holo model. Ray looked up when he heard her come in, and his eyes grew comically wide when he realized whose sweater she was wearing. She could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to work out how severely he’d misjudged the seriousness of their relationship. She was pretty sure he hadn’t misjudged it at all. Maybe the depth of their feelings. But then again, so had they. Sara ignored his stare and stepped up to the console.

“So this is it? Exactly as you remember? Even the inside?”

“My suit logged the internal dimensions automatically, so this should be accurate,” Palmer said.

“This is the failsafe?” she asked, sticking her finger into the hologram.

“That’s it. Requires constant pressure or it stops the explosion,” Mick said.

“It pushes back, too, so you need something that can compensate. You can’t just set a rock on it. It wouldn’t stay,” Ray said. It was shaped like a spring loaded switch with a contact plate underneath, nestled in exactly the center of the Oculus drive, about an arm’s length for her from either end. She could see what he meant. Gideon played a simulation of a rock holding the failsafe, and Sara watched as it slowly rose, levering the rock off the contact and pushing it to the far end of the drive. “Well, it might stay, if it was heavy enough. But we’d have to calculate the exact pressure required to hold the failsafe and the exact gravity there and we don’t have figures for either of those. I could estimate it, but if we’re off it won’t work. So maybe that’s not a good plan. It would have to be really dense material anyway to get something heavy enough into such a small space.”

Sara’s eyes flicked to him for a moment, before she reached out and rotated the holo with her hands. “This top section,” she said, pointing to the inside curve directly above the switch. “Is it solid?” Mick nodded. “Could we brace something against it?”

“And use the Oculus itself to generate enough resistance to hold the failsafe in place. That could work! That’s a great idea Sara!” Ray said. “We just have to fabricate something the right size.”

Mick grunted. “Don’t get excited yet Haircut. The opening is smaller than the inside.”

Ray looked at the holo and frowned. It was true, the opening was just slightly smaller than the internal dimensions. Their brace would need to be wedged as tightly and vertically as possible to prevent it from slipping loose or shooting out of the opposite side of the drive. Something small enough to fit and be brought perfectly vertical inside might not be long enough to create enough pressure or have a secure hold. He brought up the dimensions on the tabletop screen.

“Gideon, can we get this full size?” Sara asked. She was a visual planner.

“Of course Ms. Lance.”

The holo immediately grew. Sara stepped up to it and stuck her hand inside, measuring by eye. A shiver skittered up her spine and across her shoulders. She’d unconsciously taken the position Leonard had. Mick reached out a hand, making an aborted move to lay it on her shoulder. She pulled her hand from the holo as casually as she could manage and cleared her throat.

“Gideon, pull up the schematics for one of my batons.” A full size holo of one of her batons appeared beside the Oculus. “Will that fit inside?” The holo-baton slid easily inside collapsed, and then was extended within the drive to hold the failsafe.

“The inside is smooth, Sara. There’s not enough friction, it won’t stay,” Ray said.

“And it’ll close under that pressure,” Mick added.

She scrunched her eyebrows. “What about a non-slip coating, like a thick rubber or something?”

Ray hummed thoughtfully. “And I guess you won’t have to reuse it. We could probably come up with some sort of permanent locking mechanism.”

“Gideon, what are the odds this even works?” Mick asked.

“I calculate the possibility of the baton successfully holding the failsafe at 56.3%.”

“And with the coating and locking mechanism?”

“That _is_ with the coating and locking mechanism Dr. Palmer.”

“We’ve done better with worse odds,” Sara said. “Gideon, make a baton like that, maybe two so I can practice.”

Mick and Ray stopped and looked at her for a moment. Ray was the first to speak. “What do you mean so you can practice?”

She shrugged. “I run in, set the baton, pull Leonard out. We run like hell for the ship.”

It was a testament to her desperation, to her mental state, if nothing else. It was the plan of someone who needed to do something, anything, and it didn’t really matter the consequences. Ray’s lips pulled into a tight grimace. Mick looked at her like she might break, or explode, like he couldn’t tell which was more likely. She hated it.

“Sara,” Mick began with uncharacteristic gentleness, “there’s not enough time. Neither of you would make it.”

“I’ll teleport in, set it, and we’ll teleport out.”

He sighed. “Gideon, do you have the Oculus explosion recorded?”

“Yes, Mr. Rory. I have video and audio, but both are poor quality due to the electrostatic fluctuations in the Oculus Wellspring prior to its destruction. Shall I play the footage?”

“From the moment we leave the wellspring until the explosion.”

Below the holo, on the table’s surface, video began playing. It flickered, and pixelated, and jerked out of time with the scratchy, gritty audio. Druce was speaking, yelling really, telling Leonard to shut it down. The words were garbled and distorted.

Then, clear as a bell, Leonard’s voice. “There are no strings on me.” Sara choked back a sound of grief in her throat. Several seconds later, the recording cut out in a rush of light and noise.

“OK Gideon, how much time do we have?” Mick asked when he realized Sara couldn’t quite find her voice. Or rather that her voice probably sounded shaky and she didn’t want to be quite that open with Ray.

“You will have twelve seconds from Mr. Snart’s last word to reach minimum safe distance.”

Sara coughed. “So, teleporters.” Her voice shook less than Mick expected. But Ray heard it and bit his lip. No doubt he’d be pestering Mick for details later. Just what he least wanted to do. He liked Ray, for the most part, but sometimes he did not know when to shut up or butt out. Maybe it was because he was a scientist and naturally curious, and had an overdeveloped sense of heroism. But sometimes Mick wanted to smack him.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Lance. Teleporters do not operate at the Vanishing Point due to it existing outside of time and in a pocket dimension. And I estimate deploying the baton will take at least five seconds.” And she did sound sorry, but Sara pressed her lips into a tight line. It wasn’t good enough.

“How long will it take us to get to minimum safe distance?” Ray asked.

“If the jump ship is parked at the edge of the wellspring, Mr. Jackson could pilot to a safe distance within fifteen seconds,” Gideon said.

“If he was already flying when the Oculus blows, could he outrun the blast to a safe distance?” Ray asked.

“My calculations indicate a 16.2% chance of success.” That wasn’t encouraging.

“We have to be faster,” Ray said, looking over the layout of the wellspring. He felt somewhat responsible, despite the fact that Leonard had chosen to make his sacrifice. Ray would much rather have taken his place, but now he couldn’t.

“Faster,” Sara repeated distractedly. She looked up at Mick, eyes wide. “I know you and Leonard know him. Do you think he would help?”

“Since he’s the one who told Snart he could be a hero, and he’s got a hero complex a mile wide, yeah. He’ll feel guilty.” Mick paused. He actually liked the kid. “And even if he didn’t, he’d still help.” Sara nodded.

Ray’s brows furrowed. “Actually, and I totally should have brought this up hours ago, how will we get back to the exact moment before the explosion if the Vanishing Point exists outside of time? Especially since it’s blown up now.”

“Time moves differently there,” Mick said. “And the explosion is mostly temporal energy.”

Gideon cut in with a smooth explanation. “Due to the explosion of temporal energy and the lack of an anchor at the Oculus Wellspring, the time stream is now in a constant state of flux. Until events solidify and the time stream stabilizes, the Vanishing Point’s pocket timeline at the last nanosecond of the universe will continue to loop these critical events. The Oculus is exploding at all points in time, and is therefore still exploding as we speak.” She sounded almost proud to know the answer in an uncharted situation.

“Oh!” Ray said. “That’s good then! So we can get in before everything happens and not waste any time that we’re there.” He nodded once, satisfied with the idea.

“Long as the speedster helps out,” Mick grunted.

Sara nodded. “As soon as Rip’s family is well enough to make the jump, we’ll go.”

“We’ll explain the plan to Jax,” Ray said. Sara nodded her thanks and left the bridge. Mick turned to follow her, but Ray’s voice stopped him. “What were they to each other, really?”

“Nothing, in name. And that’s the problem.” He turned on his heel and followed Sara’s path. He knew she’d be in Snart’s room again.

He opened the door and stepped into the room. As expected, Sara sat cross-legged on the bed, absentmindedly flicking the corner of that fucking card and staring across the room. He followed her gaze and found Snart’s only concession to personal decorations. A picture of him and Lisa in a plain black frame.

“Did you tell her what happened?” Sara asked.

“Couldn’t find her,” Mick grunted.

Not for lack of trying, but eventually he realized she didn’t want to be found for whatever reason. He’d never really understood why Lisa did the things she did or liked the people she liked. She was wild and reckless and impulsive much of the time, and half the time he’d known her he’d been helping Snart pull her ass out of whatever fire she’d managed to find herself in. Not so much lately. Not at all after her brother went to prison for killing their father. Come to think of it, she hadn’t been getting into as much trouble – other than their usual mischief – since they’d met Team Flash. Part of him was glad he hadn’t found Lisa to tell her that her brother gave his life to save the world, the team, his friends. He wasn’t quite sure how she would handle that.

“If this doesn’t work, assuming we don’t die trying, I’d like to be there when you tell her.”

Mick swallowed hard. “He would have wanted that.” He crossed the room to sit beside her on the bed. He reached into his pocket pulling out something hard and shiny. She didn’t even glance at him. “I think you should hang onto this, until we get him back.” She looked at him then. He’d noticed how uncomfortable she became every time someone referred to Snart in the past tense, or spoke too casually about _if_ they got him back, instead of when. It wasn’t hard to spot the twitches and too long blinks and frowns twisting her lips, if you were looking.

Sara looked at Mick’s outstretched hand, Leonard’s pinkie ring resting in the middle of his palm. “He meant it for you. It’s from your first job together.”

He wasn’t surprised Snart had told her about it. “He tell you what it means?”

“That even the best plans can go sideways.”

“Yeah. I never cared about the plan, he planned and I got to break shit. It worked for us. I didn’t care if the plan went sideways, because I never had a plan. But you’re like him. You know what you’re doing going in. But you change the plan, you improvise under pressure when the situation changes. He wa- He’s still learning to be okay with that.” He paused to make sure she was looking at him. “You were never part of the plan, Sara. And I think, for the first time, he wanted to change the plan, just to include you.” Mick took her hand, dwarfing it in his, and slid the ring onto her middle finger, where it fit perfectly. “You should hang onto this.”

Not checking for the tears that might be gathering in her eyes, Mick stood and left the room. What he really needed was to raid Rip’s liquor cabinet. He suspected Sara would appreciate a drink right now too, but even with her tolerance, he doubted that was a good idea tonight.

Sara thumbed the ring on her finger. It was nice of Mick to let her wear it when it was his memory, not hers. It was nice, but she still felt like someone had hollowed her out with a spoon. Leonard’s voice echoed in her head. And she knew if she let it, Laurel’s would too. She hadn’t watched Gideon’s footage earlier, because she didn’t want to see his face, content in his sacrifice, but she could hear him, his last words, over and over.

“There are no strings on me,” he’d said.

His voice was brave and sharp and she hated him for it. He had taken on an army with one sharp sword and no armor. She couldn’t sit here any longer. Tucking the playing card into the inner pocket of her leggings without thinking, she slipped her shoes back on and headed to the medbay to see how Miranda and Jonas were doing.

Stein stood toward the back of the room, reading something on one of the wall panels, and Rip sat in a chair between his wife and son. When she stepped fully into the room, Martin turned to look at her. His expression shifted from mild relief to curiosity in an instant, and then settled on a sort of fond understanding. She supposed, out of everyone, other than Rip, the man who had nearly lost his wife to the fluctuations of time _twice_ was the most likely to really understand how she felt. She smiled softly at him.

“I hear we have a plan to rescue Mr. Snart,” he said, correctly assuming that she didn’t want to talk about how she hadn’t been able to sleep until she’d pilfered a sweater and climbed into Leonard’s bed.

“Yeah, we’re gonna need the Flash’s speed, but I think it’ll work.”

Gideon cut in, “I’m sorry Ms. Lance, but the probability of success in this rescue mission, when accounting for all the variables, is less than 10%.”

“Don’t you know Gideon,” Rip said, “never tell Sara the odds.” He gave her a small smile, something contrite and grateful. And she forgave him. Forgave him for encouraging the one person she wanted to stick around to be a hero, allowing him to sacrifice himself. Forgave him for not letting her condemn herself and her father and her team by trying to save her sister. No matter that he had never intended those things, she had blamed him and let her anger toward him grow. Just this morning, she’d been considering mutiny. And now she was glad to have him on her side. She was glad to see him with his family. She was deeply glad that Miranda and Jonas were both breathing, with a little help from Gideon.

“When’s the last time you slept?” she asked Rip. He shrugged. “Go catch a few hours. You’re gonna need it.” He bit his lip and glanced reluctantly at his wife. She’d been shot first and was in worse shape than Jonas, though Gideon gave her fair odds of making a full recovery. “I’ll sit with them.” Rip’s eyes grew wide and he looked at her. “I’ll have Gideon get you if they wake up before you do.”

“Thank you, Sara.” He stood from his chair, stretching stiff limbs, and then left for his room.

Sara crossed the room and dropped into the empty chair. She pulled the card from her pocket, flicking it back and forth across her right hand like a magician setting up a card trick. Martin watched her for a long moment, catching the unfamiliar glint of the ring on her finger. He was an observant man, and he knew it had belonged to Snart.

“Ms. Lance, may I ask you a personal question?”

“You get one,” she said, holding up a finger. “I’ve had enough introspection for one day.”

A smile quirked Stein’s lips for just a second. “Yes, I would imagine you have. How are you holding up, with your sister Laurel, and Mr. Snart, your…” He trailed off, unsure exactly what they had been.

She spared them both. “Shaky,” she admitted. “And hollow. And honestly a little irritated. Half of you are acting like you expect me to explode any second. And the other half of you act like one word is gonna shatter me. And Mick can’t decide. And it’s weird.” Stein nodded. She stopped herself for a moment, and then decided that she did want to continue. “I missed my sister’s funeral. And I can’t stand to be in my room because all I can see or hear in there is him. So I sit in his room because then I can trick myself into thinking he’s just gone to the kitchen to grab us a snack or something. It’s stupid.”

“It really isn’t. I felt the same way when my mother passed. I expected her to walk into the room all the time, for months. I would even see her on the street. And you know I would do anything to save Clarissa, no matter the odds. Perhaps our teammates are unused to you not planning the same way, or injecting the same sensible realism you otherwise would. But I assure you, your reactions are perfectly understandable.”

Something about his rational tone and logic put her at ease. She settled more comfortably in the chair.

“Jefferson has gone to I believe he said ‘soup up’ the jump ship. But we will be asking for Barry Allen’s help, you said?”

This was more comfortable territory. “That’s the Flash’s name? Yeah, Mick said he would help.”

“You’ve not met him?”

“Haven’t met any of them. Cisco loves my sister, so he made my suit when she asked.” Martin nodded understandingly.

“Even without their history, I have no doubt Barry would be willing to help us. It’s in his nature.” He paused for a moment, uncertain of his next words. “And Barry planted the seed of heroism, which you and the rest of this team watered until Mr. Snart was willing to give his life for something greater than himself.” He stepped away from the wall. “It’s time for me to take my leave, I think.”

Sara’s voice caught him just as he reached the door. “Martin.” He turned. “Thank you.” He nodded and left her alone with Miranda and Jonas and her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: someone wakes up, Jax is an accidental genius, and Mick and Sara blow off some steam.
> 
> I wrote Sara wearing Len's sweater months ago in my Obligatory De-aged Fic (which you should read if you like de-aging and criminal amounts of cuteness, shameless plug). And I couldn't help myself. I had to put her in it again.
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter!


	4. The Strongest Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonas wakes up, the plan comes together thanks to Jax, and Mick and Sara bond on the training mats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Thank you once again for the fantastic feedback on this fic.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.

 

_Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. - Khalil Gilran_

 

* * *

 

Some time later, Sara wasn’t sure quite how long, something rustled to her right. She looked over and two bright blue eyes stared back at her from Jonas’s young face. She smiled at him and stopped fidgeting for the moment.

“Hi Jonas,” she said.

“Hi,” he whispered.

“My name’s Sara. I’m friends with your dad.” He nodded once to show he understood. “Do you want some water?”

“Yes, please,” he said. She got up and filled a plastic cup with water from the dispenser, putting a bendy straw in it to make it easier for him. He drank gratefully and his face brightened when he was finished. Some of the ashen color and exhaustion receded. “Is my mummy alright?” he asked, looking past Sara to where Miranda lay unconscious on her other side.

“She’s sleeping like you were. She’ll wake up when she’s ready.”

“Where’s my daddy?”

“I told him to go take a nap, but I’m sure Gideon has already told him you woke up. Haven’t you, Gideon?”

“I have. Captain Hunter is on his way now.”

Sara smiled down at Jonas again. “Have you ever been on your dad’s ship before?” He shook his head. “Well, this is it. Pretty cool, huh?” He smiled at her in that way kids do when they see right through you. “Ok, so this is just the medbay,” she said with a shrug and a grin. “But later, when you’re feeling better, maybe we can give you a tour. Would you like that?”

“Yeah,” he said with a grin.

It was then that Rip walked into the room. “Jonas!” Relief colored his voice and etched itself across his features.

“Daddy!”

Sara edged out of the reunion, smiling sadly to herself. Rip looked up at her, just before she left the room, and nodded his thanks. She wandered the ship for a while after that, avoiding the kitchen and the bridge, where the others might gather, and feeling too restless to go back to Leonard’s room and try to sleep. After a while, she found herself down near the jump ship’s docking bay. Music drifted up the corridor. As she got closer, she realized Jax had asked Gideon to play his music through the stereo in the jump ship while he worked on it. She hadn’t known the jump ship even had a stereo, but then she hadn’t read the entire manual cover to cover, multiple times. Jax had.

He was bobbing his head along with the beat, taking no notice of her. She rapped her knuckles on the metal and was quietly amused when he jumped about a foot in the air. Leonard would have thought it was funny. Laurel would have suggested putting a bell on her like a cat.

She bit her lip to drive those thoughts away. “Hey,” she said. “Souping up the jump ship for our mad dash? Or, I guess, Barry’s mad dash?”

With a little smile, he said, “Yeah, I figure I can shorten the engine response time and maybe get a little extra speed. Barry will do his part, but then I gotta get us out of there.”

“You think we can do it?”

“The whole rescuing Snart part seems as solid as it can be, I think we can do it. But as the getaway driver, I’m a little concerned about outrunning the blast.”

Sara hummed. The timing was still going to be the weak link, even with the fastest man alive helping out. They needed more time just to get away from the blast than they had to pull off the entire rescue.

“So, you think we can get away in time?”

“I –” He stopped short. “In time.” His voice was barely more than a whisper. “We can get away in time.”

“Yeah, you think so?”

“No, Sara. In _time._ What if we leave the Waverider in the temporal zone, and time jump back to it from the Oculus Wellspring. We don’t have to outrun the blast if we make it to the temporal zone.”

Sara stared at him. “Can we make it there? How fast can we jump?”

“Well, the jump ship is a little quicker, ‘cause it’s smaller. I think it’s around 5 or 6 seconds, but I could tune the time drive a little, and we can preload the path. I could get it down to three or four, _maybe_. But Barry’s gotta run like hell.”

Sara squeezed Jax’s shoulder, just once, and then let go. Her eyes said thank you when her lips couldn’t. And he nodded in understanding. After a moment, he turned back to the jump ship’s inner workings. Sara sat on the floor against one wall and watched him with half-lidded eyes.

Jax bopped and swayed to his music, singing a line or two, then humming a verse. Sara tapped her ring on the floor, mimicking the drumbeat. Jax didn’t tell her to stop. He finally looked up from his work an hour later, maybe two. Sara wasn’t tapping Snart’s ring on the metal floor or flicking the playing card he was sure she had slipped into a hidden pocket somewhere. For perhaps the first time he’d seen since the initial shock had worn off, Sara was still. And she was asleep. Jax turned the volume down a little and kept working. If this was where she was comfortable, he wasn’t planning to disturb her.

Back in medbay, Rip sat in between his wife and son’s beds. Jonas was asleep again. But this was a light doze, a natural kind of sleep that Rip was happy to see. It was so unlike Miranda’s total lack of consciousness. Gideon had assured him multiple times that this was to be expected with the severity of her condition. But Rip was impatient.

Martin wandered in a while later carrying a large tray. He handed a plate with a sandwich and apple slices to Rip. He set a second plate of applesauce and nutrient jello on a shelf beside Jonas’s bed. The last plate, containing another sandwich, he took for himself and then sat in the chair on the other side of the room. Slowly, with the subtle encouragement of Martin eating, Rip began to eat.

Neither man spoke. But a bit of the tension leeched out of the room.

In the kitchen, Mick sat across the counter from Ray, scowling vaguely into his sandwich. Ray was grinning.

“What are you smiling at, Haircut?” Mick grunted.

“Rip’s son is awake. I mean, it’s just amazing he’s alive at all, and Gideon says he’s going to be totally fine.”

“You think I’m supposed to be excited about that?” He wasn’t unhappy about it, really, but Ray’s enthusiasm was a bit much.

“Well, yeah.” Ray paused, gaze roving Mick’s face. “Pretty soon we can go rescue Snart, right?”

Mick paused and took a drink of his water. “Miranda’s still out. Can’t leave until she’s stable. Who knows how long that’ll be.”

Ray’s smile dimmed. “But it’s a start.”

“Yeah,” he said. Mick let the growl leave his voice. “It’s a start.”

 

* * *

 

Sara wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep, but she had definitely dozed off. Her sleep had been deep, and mercifully, dreamless. She doubted she’d moved at all. For a moment, she didn’t open her eyes, using her other senses to observe her surroundings. She didn’t remember falling asleep, or even wanting to sleep. And she was more or less upright, so probably not in Leonard’s room. Music thumped at a low volume, and just over that, she could hear voices. Jax and Stein. One of her hands lay across her stomach, but the other was on the floor. She curled her fingers slightly, feeling the metal floor, not a grate. She must be in the jump ship.

That’s when she remembered coming down here, Jax working on the ship, his plan. She opened her eyes, turning her head against the stiffness in her neck. A sort of half groan slipped from her lips. Jax looked over Stein’s shoulder and smiled at her.

“Hey Sara,” he said brightly.

She nodded and rolled up into a stretch. “What’s going on?” she asked.

Martin turned to include her in their conversation. “Miranda has just woken up.” Sara’s eyes widened. “Gideon says she is doing well, but it may still be some time before she is stable enough to survive a jump.”

“Isn’t that great news?” Jax smiled widely at her.

“Yeah,” she agreed, stretching both arms behind her back. “Things are starting to go right.”

Stein hummed thoughtfully. “Perhaps this is a sign of hope. That the rules of time, if obeyed, can give rather than take.”

Sara decided not to mention Gideon’s constant assertions that their plan was very nearly impossible. The AI had probably told them anyway. They were probably just trying to bolster her confidence in the plan. To give her hope. To keep her from breaking.

“I hope you’re right,” she said on a sigh. “I’m going to find some food.” She quickly left the jump ship with a neutral expression plastered on her face. It didn’t fool either of them.

Martin sighed and Jax stared after her. “What the hell was that about?” Jax asked.

“I’m afraid our strategy of hope and optimism may be having rather the opposite effect.”

 

* * *

 

Sara eventually wandered toward the kitchen, though she wasn’t actually hungry. When she walked in, Mick was the only one there, eating chips and reading a newspaper from 1887. He turned the bag of chips so she could reach, but didn’t say anything. She took one from the bag and popped it into her mouth. She didn’t really want it, and it felt dry and dusty on her tongue. Sara swallowed back the chip and went to fill a water bottle from the dispenser. Mick didn’t say a word, didn’t move, but she could see he was looking at her over the top of his newspaper.

“What?” she snapped. He shook his head and looked back at his paper. Sara stalked over to stand beside him. Some irrational part of her was seeing red. She opened her mouth to say something mean, inflict pain, make someone else feel their chest split open the way hers was.

Mick preempted her. “Sara, what do you want us to do? You’re pissed at Stein for trying to be optimistic for your sake. And you’re annoyed at Jax for tiptoeing around you because he thinks you’re gonna blow up. You’ve barely forgiven Hunter. And you’re gonna take it out on me?”

“You didn’t mention Ray,” she said.

“Yeah, well, I figure Pretty Boy is already annoying.” She almost laughed. “If we talk like he’s dead it makes you upset,” he continued in a gentler voice. “But if we’re optimistic you get pissed because you think we’re coddling you.” Sara bit her lip. “What do you want Sara?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice almost didn’t shake.

Mick reached out and drew her into the circle of his arms. She didn’t cry. He had a feeling she was too dehydrated for that anyway. But she sagged against him. Leonard’s death hit him hard too, but Sara had just lost her sister on top of that. Snart was the only one she could save. Mick held her a little tighter. He was pretty sure he was the only one she was going to lose it in front of. Not that she was fooling anyone else. They were just pretending not to notice.

“You wanna spar, blondie?” he asked, trying for casual. As if they weren’t holding each other together. As if he hadn’t spoken into the mess of blonde hair tucked under his chin.

“Yeah,” she said into his shoulder. “That would be good.”

Sara pinned Mick to the mat for the third time in the last thirty minutes. He would be fun to spar with simply because he was so much bigger than her. But he was a good fighter, too. She perched on his chest. He could throw her off - and had, twice - but he didn’t.

“You ever spar with Snart?” he asked.

“Yeah, he said he liked practicing with someone who could kick his ass. Made him up his game.”

Mick’s hum vibrated through her knees. “You ever let him win?”

She snorted. “No. He made it a challenge, though. Got me pinned quite a few times. But I always beat him.”

This time, it was Mick’s laugh that rumbled against her legs. “I think he just liked having you on top of him.” Two spots of color appeared high on her cheeks. She hadn’t thought, at the time, that he’d enjoyed that, too. She had certainly enjoyed it. She might have even let him pin her - temporarily - for the same reason.

Gideon interrupted her thoughts. “Ms. Lance, my sensors indicate you are severely dehydrated. I must recommend you drink water or report to the medbay to receive an IV.” Sara grumbled, but still drank greedily from her water bottle. After a moment, she stood from the mat and went to shower.

Dressed again in leggings and Leonard’s sweater, Sara detoured to the kitchen to fill her water bottle and then meandered around the ship. She thought Gideon was overreacting a little on the dehydration thing, but the AI would keep bugging her. So she acquiesced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Miranda wakes up, Sara has a long chat with her, and the guys plot Barry's timeline.
> 
> Hopefully my posting schedule will be a little quicker now that I'm nearly finished with my secret santa fic. But I'm also moving at the end of the month, so who really knows. I'll do my best to finish this so I can just post the chapters I've written without any trouble.
> 
> Thanks again for reading!


	5. We're All Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara wants to know this woman Rip would tear apart time for, and Mick would like Barry's timeline to cooperate with the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas (it's kinda still Christmas here), Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa! My gift to you, regardless of what you do or don't celebrate, is a new chapter.
> 
> Since I'm moving to start grad school tomorrow and I'll be in a car for 3 days and then unpacking and stuff, I won't be posting again until after New Year's Day. However, that does mean I'll likely have gotten some good writing time in when it's not my turn to drive.
> 
> As always, I truly appreciate all the comments and kudos. Enjoy!

 

_Well, you'll remember me a little. I'll be a story in your head. But that's okay. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know, it was the best. - 11th Doctor, Doctor Who_

* * *

After a while, Sara’s meandering led her to the medbay. Maybe the knowledge that Miranda had finally woken up drew her there. When she walked in, Miranda was dozing, and Rip and Jonas were gone. She dropped into the chair between the beds, pulling a playing card from the waist pocket of her leggings. She flicked it absentmindedly as she stared at the wall.

“Hello,” a groggy voice said to her left. Sara looked over. Miranda’s bright blue eyes looked back at her.

“Hi. I’m Sara,” she said, fidgeting again.

“You’re one of my husband’s crew,” Miranda said. Sara nodded, although it wasn’t a question. “Gideon says Jonas needs to walk to speed his healing, so Rip’s taken him on a tour of the ship. A very slow one, I imagine.” That answered Sara’s unspoken question.

“Do you need anything?” she asked.

Miranda shook her head a little, then stopped. “Some company, perhaps. I’m confined to bed for the time being.”

“Sure,” Sara said, taking a long drink from her water. She’d like to know this woman Rip would go on a crusade across time and space to save.

“So, Sara - ?”

“Lance.”

“Miranda Coburn.” She stuck out the hand without the IV and Sara shook it. “Where are you from Sara?”

“Star City. 2016.”

“I see,” Miranda said. “London. 2166. I’m sure you know that.” She smiled a little self-deprecatingly and Sara smiled back. “And what did you do before my husband convinced you to join him?”

Sara’s brow furrowed. “You probably don’t want to know.”

“Try me.”

“Have you heard of the League of Assassins?”

“My husband did his graduate thesis on the League. Yes, I’m familiar with it.”

“I was a member of the League after Nyssa al’Ghul rescued me off the coast of an island in the North China Sea.”

“Lian Yu?”

Sara nodded, eyebrows raised. “That’s an odd thing for you to know.”

“That’s an odd place for you to be.”

“I was shipwrecked. I had been on the Queen’s Gambit with Oliver Queen.”

“Oh!” Miranda’s eyes seemed to spark. “The Green Arrow.” One of Sara’s eyebrows rose.  “I did my thesis on vigilantism in the early 21st Century.”

With a smile, Sara said, “You may enjoy the rest of this story, then.” She cleared her throat and explained what she’d done after leaving the League, her death, her sister picking up the mask, and her resurrection. Miranda listened with rapt attention until the end of the tale, when Sara accepted the White Canary costume Cisco had made.

“What I would have given to have this conversation when I was writing my thesis.” That startled a laugh out of Sara. “And the bar brawl anomaly makes a lot more sense now.”

“The what?” She hadn’t mentioned a bar brawl.

Miranda waved off her confusion and began the story. “One of the most important courses at the Academy is _Anachronism and Anomaly_. It teaches you how to avoid and handle both, along with some cautionary tales. The one everyone likes best is one that only becomes an anomaly in hindsight. A series of bar brawls, decades apart sometimes, often hundreds or thousands of miles from each other, all with the same MO. Two big guys, sometimes with strange guns, and a blonde girl, usually in white leather. She’s always the one knocking out men twice her size.” Sara looked away to hide her smirk, but wasn’t quite quick enough. “Mick Rory was here earlier, for a moment. And Martin made mention of the heat gun when I asked about the team’s capabilities. Rip’s been very tight-lipped about the whole thing.” Sara snorted. “May I ask, if Mr. Rory is one of your brawling trio, who is the third?”

There was something knowing in her tone, like the moment she’d called Ollie the Green Arrow. “Leonard Snart,” Sara said, testing the waters.

“I thought he might be. Heatwave and Captain Cold. Well known to the vigilantes of Central City.” Miranda’s voice was measured; she was trying to be honest without giving away future knowledge. It had to be, because Central City only had one vigilante. She must not have realized her slip.

“He stayed behind to destroy the Oculus.” It was the closest she’d come to really admitting he was dead.

Miranda frowned. That wasn’t right at all. He was still a villain in 2016 in the records she’d dug up for her thesis. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen. “But you’re going to save him. Aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Sara sighed.

“Good. You both have work still to do.”

Now Sara was confused. “You think it’s a good idea?” Even the members of the team who thought they should at least try to save him didn’t think it was that good of an idea.

“Considering I wrote about both of you in my thesis, yes. I’d hate to be wrong just because he decided to sacrifice himself and screw up the timeline.” She was smiling and Sara found herself almost laughing. Okay, she could see why Rip had married this woman.

Rip and Jonas walked into medbay then. Jonas gave her a tired wave as his father helped him into his bed. Rip dragged another chair over and dropped into it, waving off Sara’s silent offer to give up her own seat. His wife was smiling and he’d just spent half an hour walking around with his son. He was content.

“Rip, you still haven’t said, how did you save us? All you said was that you brought us on the ship.”

“Well, it was Sara’s plan.”

“It was?” Miranda asked, looking at Sara, who shrugged. “How did you save us?”

“Short range teleport.” At Miranda’s raised eyebrow, she continued, “I planted them on you while you were running. Once past-Rip left, we brought you on board.”

“Looks like you beat Time at her own game,” Miranda said.

“Well, beating people is what Sara does best,” Rip said, the teasing in his tone more than noticeable.

“Oh, I know. I think every member of your team shows up in my thesis at least a few times.” A flush crawled up Rip’s neck. And Sara laughed out loud. So that’s where he’d picked his motley crew of ‘unimportant’ heroes and villains.

Several minutes later, after Jonas had finished telling them about his exciting tour, Mick stuck his head in the door. “Hunter. Could use your help with Allen’s timeline.” Rip nodded and stood. He kissed Jonas on the forehead, pecked Miranda on the cheek, and nodded at Sara. Then he followed Mick out of the room.

“Does he mean _Barry_ Allen?” Miranda asked. “The Flash?”

“Yeah,” Sara said. “We need his help to save Leonard.” Miranda smiled. “How far back do these bar brawls go?”

“World War I,” Miranda said. She glanced at Jonas, who had fallen asleep pretty quickly after telling them about his tour. “Were there earlier ones?”

Sara nodded, brows drawn slightly together. They hadn’t visited World War I. “We all got into a big one at a saloon in the Old West.” Miranda gestured for her to go on, and Sara told the story of their time in Salvation, filling in the gaps with things the others had told her. Including the showdowns and Leonard’s sharpshooting - he’d been proud of that and hadn’t hesitated to tell her what she’d missed, which she’d followed with a reminder that if she’d been there, _she_ would have been the sniper. He’d pouted through three hands of gin.

Miranda grinned, clearly enjoying the story. She had given up a career with the time Masters because she loved Rip, but her love of time travel was plain to see. Maybe she and Jonas could take a trip or two - not to stop a villain, maybe just to see a parade or a baseball game or something - now that the Time Masters were gone.

They chatted for a while, Sara told stories here and there about places they’d been. And Miranda offered a few anecdotes about their incoming class at the Academy, one involving Rip and another cadet staging an honest to God sword fight at the Vanishing Point. Rip won.

“What’s the best thing you’ve stolen out of time?” Miranda asked.

“What makes you think I haven’t listened to Rip’s hundred lectures about not affecting the timeline?”

“You mean the ones where he tells you not to pick fights with the locals or steal anything or leave anything behind?” Sara smirked. “You and the Rogues cause trouble everywhere you go. Besides, Rip is at least as bad as any of you. Have you seen his study? It’s essentially an active crime scene for cross-temporal theft.”

Sara chuckled. It was true. Rip was basically the living embodiment of ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ “I usually steal cards wherever we go. Sometimes, Leonard and I play gin with our ‘souvenir’ cards.” Miranda nodded. “Mick and Leonard freelance every once in a while to take something shiny,” she said, severely downplaying the frequency. Miranda smirked. She knew. “I stole a baby,” Sara said, surprising herself. “Leonard on the day he was born. We were saving him from the Pilgrim. And he was so sweet and cute.” Her lips twitched in the ghost of a smile. “He was the best thing I ever stole.” She paused, not looking at Miranda. She didn’t want to see the understanding scrawled across her face. “Well, and Leonard stole a lot of liquor for us. That’s a close second.”

Miranda smiled at her, letting the half-lie slide. “Rip stole an extremely rare bottle of wine for our first anniversary.”

Sara grinned. “He does have a great liquor cabinet. We steal from it all the time.” Miranda giggled.

* * *

Mick and Rip walked onto the bridge where Ray leaned over the console. He pushed the timeline from the screen up into a holo so they could all see it easily. Ray didn’t have as much skill with timelines, but he was smart and very determined to help. Especially since he was convinced it should have been him.

“As far as I can tell, we need to pull him out after this point.” Ray poked his finger into the timeline. “It lines up pretty well with when we went back anyway.”

Rip hummed and looked closer. “Yes, he’ll be faster after properly accepting the speedforce.”

“We might want to grab him before his dad dies,” Mick said, also sticking his index finger into the timeline. “Can’t imagine it’ll go over well if we ask for help saving Snart and don’t try to save his dad.”

“That’s a very good point, Mr. Rory,” Rip said. “Gideon, please plot a course for this time.” He pinched a section of timeline and pulled it down onto the console. “We’ll make the jump when Miranda and Jonas are stable enough.”

“Yes, Captain. I estimate Ms. Coburn will be stable enough to time jump in 20 hours.”

“Excellent. I suggest we all eat and get some rest before we leave,” Rip said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Nap time for Mick and Sara, and the team prepares to jump back to 2016.
> 
> Thanks for reading!!
> 
> I really wanted to write Miranda. Rip's backstory made so much more sense after we got to really meet her and I wanted the legends to meet her as well.


	6. All The Days They Stay Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interlude of grief between time jumps. And preparation for going back to 2016.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry it's been so long, I'm starting my second week of classes today, and I've just gotten settled. So I have another chapter for you.
> 
> Thanks for all the well wishes! And comments and kudos =]
> 
> Also, I forgot to mention last chapter that the bar brawl story Miranda talks about was inspired by the fic 'Documenting Bar Brawls' by Clair de Lune. This week, I shamelessly quote Doctor Who.

 

_It's funny, the day you lose someone isn't the worst - at least you've got something to do. It's all the days they stay dead._

_\- 12th Doctor, Heaven Sent_  

* * *

When Miranda was finally allowed out of bed and out of medbay for brief periods, the only place she wanted to go was the bridge. Ray and Stein stood over the console discussing something far above anyone else’s scientific knowledge. They both looked up when she walked in leaning on Rip’s arm.

“Miranda, lovely to see you up and about,” Stein said.

“Thank you Martin.”

“Where are Mr. Rory and Ms. Lance? I was certain we’d find them here, going over the plan again,” Rip said.

“Mick was going to try and get Sara to sleep, but he couldn’t find her,” Ray said. “I think he gave up and went to bed.”

“He needs the rest,” Miranda said. “Thank you, Ray.”

* * *

Mick opened the door to Leonard’s room. He’d been tossing and turning in his own bed, unable to relax enough to sleep. He and Leonard had lived together on and off for more than two decades, had bunked together in safe houses, and had actually been cellmates at one point. Snart’s cool and measured demeanor had been soothing when he was too worked up to sleep. Maybe his room had been imbued with that same power. It seemed to work for Sara.

And it seemed to still be working for her, as she was asleep on top of the blankets, laying the wrong way on Leonard’s bed. She hadn’t been there the first time he’d looked. Sighing, he toed off his boots and climbed into bed behind her, the right way around. He slid under the blankets, her socked feet coming to rest lightly against his stomach. She almost hung over the corner of the bed, arm dangling off at a strange angle. Mick sighed and hit his pillow. He fell asleep soon after.

Mick woke a short time later when a heel hit him squarely in the solar plexus and drove the breath from his lungs. One massive hand clamped down on Sara’s writhing feet. He blinked clumsily in the dim light. She was struggling with something, thrashing and running.

“Sara,” Mick grunted, shaking her at the ankle. When that didn’t work, he sat up and put a hand on her shoulder. Shaking her there would probably not end well for him. “Sara, wake up,” he said, louder this time. She kicked him again, though it glanced off the side of his hip now that he was sitting. “Sara!” Her eyes sprang open and she drew a ragged breath. Mick scooted back toward the wall. “Budge up, blondie. Snart would kill me if you fell off the bed and cracked your skull.”

She sniffed and scooted away from the edge. “If you kick me -”

“You’ll deserve it. You already kicked me twice.”

She gave a little hum of amusement and curled up. “G’night Mick.”

“Night Sara.” He breathed in the calm room, and a scent that was Leonard, and he was snoring again in minutes.

Sara lay awake. A part of her was exhausted, but another part was so wired she was almost twitching. Further sleep would clearly prove elusive. She fisted her hand inside the sleeve of Leonard’s sweater and tucked it under her nose. It still smelled like him. Crisp and spicy, chai on a winter morning, with an undertone of warm skin. She closed her eyes and inhaled.

It was the scent that had lingered on her sheets after he’d sprawled artlessly across them for hours, eating M&Ms and pretzels and trying to convince her he wasn’t cheating at gin. It had clung to her shirt long after she’d given his jacket back, thanking him without words for not letting her freeze to death.

She didn’t sleep.

When Mick woke up, Sara was sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed sharpening a knife. With three others lying at her hip. A mug of coffee sat on the desk, just within her reach. He sat up with a grunt and made a gimme motion with his hand. Sara passed him her coffee and he drank deeply before passing it back. She took a long sip and set the mug on the desk.

“Gideon, how long until we’re clear to jump?” Mick asked, voice rougher than usual.

“Approximately 4.25 hours.”

“Should get some food then. Come on, blondie. I don’t care if you sharpen your knives at the table.” Sara’s lips twitched. Where she had a hard time eating for the grief churning her stomach, Mick was essentially a garbage disposal in every situation. Sometimes she envied him. But she stood, leaving her knives and whetstone on the desk, and followed him to the kitchen all the same.

Ray and Stein were at the table eating something from the replicator when Mick and Sara walked in. She plopped down at the counter, not really looking at her teammates. She really _should_ have brought her knives, just so she had something to do. She could fidget with the ring or the playing card in her pocket, but the others had noticed by now. And she was under no illusion that they hadn’t figured it out.

She cleared her throat. “Where’s Jax?”

“He’s still asleep,” Stein said.

“He’s been trying to make repairs to the Waverider, and get the jump ship ready too,” Ray added.

“Good man,” Mick said, setting a plate with an egg and a slice of toast in front of Sara before sitting down with his own breakfast.

She picked at her food until half of it was gone. Then she got up, took care of her plate, and left the kitchen. Jax walked in, slightly taken aback as he turned to watch her leave.

“She just needs time,” Stein said.

“She needs to keep moving, Professor,” Mick said. “Sara doesn’t wait very well.”

* * *

None of them ran into Sara again until Ray stumbled upon her in the cargo bay they’d converted into a training room and armory. He’d gone to tinker with his suit and found her doing target practice with her various throwing knives and stars. Though he wasn’t a particular fan of being in the same room as sharp flying objects, he really needed to make some adjustments to his suit before they took on Savage. She mostly ignored him anyway.

Ray, despite his usual need to fill a quiet room with chatter, let Sara have her silence. It was punctuated only by the soft clicks of him adjusting his suit and the dull thwacks of her weapons finding their mark. Mick wandered in at some point and sat down on a crate to clean his heat gun. He left the cold gun on the rack, taunting him just a little.

An hour before they were set to leave, Gideon summoned them to the bridge to meet with Rip. Everyone was there, including Miranda and Jonas, who sat beside the console. Rip’s fingers drummed a staccato beat. He relaxed the moment the others walked in.

“Alright everyone, in one hour we’ll be jumping to May 2016 to recruit Barry Allen for our mission to save Mr. Snart.”

“We know that,” Sara cut in. Lack of sleep was eating at her already thin patience. She might have forgiven Rip, but he was still annoying.

Rip cleared his throat. “Yes, well, we need to be precise and careful with how we handle it. This is the best, and the most precarious, moment in the timeline. Mr. Allen will be faster than ever, as he has fully accepted the speedforce. However, very shortly afterward, the metapocalypse will begin. We cannot stay to help, and Mr. Allen will not be willing to leave during it, even if only for five minutes. Then his father is killed and he will be in no state to help us. So we must be exact in our extraction and leave a minimal impact on the timeline. For once.” Miranda smirked.

“Are you sure we can’t help with the metapocalypse?” Jax asked. “That sounds really bad.”

“Yes,” Rip said with a grimace. “For many reasons.” Not the least of which being the recorded presence of Laurel’s doppelganger. Sara wouldn’t handle that well. Mick gave Jax a look and shook his head minutely. Jax didn’t ask again.

“Fine,” Sara said. “Mick and I are going to talk to the Flash.”

“May I suggest bringing along a hero Mr. Allen is already familiar with to vouch for you?” Rip said. It wasn’t a suggestion.

“Oh! I’ll go!” Ray said.

“Martin,” Rip said. “Why don’t you join Mr. Rory and Ms. Lance. They need adult supervision and you know Mr. Allen and his team quite well.”

Stein nodded. “Certainly.”

Rip cleared his throat again. “Miranda and Jonas will be confined to the stasis field in medbay during the jump. It’s safer for them there. As for the rest of you, please be back here in thirty minutes.”

They dispersed, though most didn’t leave the bridge. Sara watched Miranda and Jonas chatting with Ray for a long moment. Then she walked off toward the crew quarters. Two minutes later, Rip followed. He found her in Snart’s room. No surprise.

She’d left the door open and sat on the slightly rumpled bed. He followed her gaze to the only picture in the room. Leonard and Lisa. A candid shot likely taken by Mick.

“Are you thinking about him?” Rip asked.

Sara shrugged. “About Lisa. She doesn’t know.” Sara sighed and scooted to the edge of the bed so she could reach the knives she’d left on the desk. Rip checked his hip against the doorframe. “At least with Miranda and Jonas you knew what happened. You knew they’d died. Her brother hopped on a timeship expecting to be back an hour after he left. And he didn’t come back at all. For Lisa, he just...disappeared...fell off the face of the Earth.”

“But like Miranda and Jonas, you’re going to get him back.”

“You and Gideon and everyone else are indulging me, I know. It’s impossible. I’m just not ready to accept that he’s gonna stay gone.”

“As a Time Master, I have seen things I cannot explain, Sara.” She looked up from where she was tucking her knife set back into its case. “Leonard Snart would not be the first person I’ve seen disappear and come back.” He paused, catching her eye. “People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces. Little things you can’t quite account for: faces in photographs -” She glanced at the framed photo. “Half-eaten meals.” He looked down at her hand. “Rings.” She thumbed the silver band. “Nothing is ever forgotten, not completely. And if something can be remembered, it _can_ come back.”

Sara nodded. “Nice speech,” she said, which sort of meant thanks.

“Wisdom from an old friend after a mission neither of us could explain.” He glanced around the room. “Mr. Snart might prefer his bed made and fewer sharp objects on his desk when he returns.” Sara rolled her eyes, but did actually start cleaning up the mess she and Mick had made in Leonard’s normally neat room.

When Sara returned to the bridge, she had changed out of her leggings and Leonard’s sweater and into a blue top, her usual black jeans, and her black biker jacket. Miranda and Jonas had already been secured in medbay, and everyone else was on the bridge waiting for her.

“Shall we?” Rip asked.

Sara nodded and sat beside Mick. The others took their seats, three empty chairs winking back at them, and pulled down their restraints. In moments, they were hurtling through time toward a young man who would hopefully see fit to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Sara and Mick find a rather predictable way into Star Labs, Sara and Iris bond, and Barry has a choice to make. Also, Henry Allen!
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this shorter chapter. And me making Rip quote the Doctor's speech to Amy about Rory.
> 
> Next chapter is one of my favorites, and we get some action with Team Flash.


	7. Sufficient Reason to Remain Ashore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in 2016, Sara, Mick, and Stein go to STAR Labs to recruit Barry for their rescue mission. Featuring Iris, Cisco, and Henry Allen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends, sorry I've been away so long and I'm going to be gone for a while again. I haven't had much time to write with classes and a recent trip to visit a friend. I've got a pretty packed week ahead, so expect another delay in getting a chapter to you.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

 

_The sea is dangerous and its storms terrible, but these have never been sufficient reason to remain ashore. - Ferdinand Magellan_

* * *

Landing back in their own time period, despite having come from 150 years in the future, wasn’t bad. Mick, as per his new normal, felt nothing. But not even Ray was feeling odd. Perhaps their bodies instinctively recognized their home time zone.

Sara and Mick were the first out of their seats. Followed by Stein and the others.

“You ready Professor?” Mick asked.

“Yes, back to Star Labs,” he said, following his unlikely companions off the ship. There were no cars around outside, no matter how hard Sara and Mick looked. They were pretty far from most things on purpose, so no one would run into the ship, but it made finding transportation kind of annoying. “You’re not going to steal a car to get us there,” Stein argued. “We can call Clarissa, or perhaps Mr. Ramon. I’m sure someone will come get us.”

“Or we could just get an Uber. There’s one two minutes away,” Sara said. She was looking at the smartphone in her hand.

“A what?” Stein asked.

Sara looked at him. “It’s like a cab. But it charges the app.” She held up the phone.

“That’s Pretty-Boy’s phone,” Mick said.

She smirked. “Yes it is. He can pay for our cab.” Mick grinned and followed Sara to the street where the car would meet them. Stein followed them, spluttering about stealing and infringing on Raymond’s rights. Sara and Mick ignored him.

* * *

“We could just knock, Ms. Lance, or simply wave at the security camera. Mr. Ramon will let us in.” Stein sounded slightly irritated.

“This is more fun,” Sara said, keeping her voice light and airy. As if she wasn’t breaking in just because it’s what Leonard would do. Mick leaned against the wall beside her and smirked.

Once she got the door open, Sara let Mick lead the way since he actually knew where he was going, and Martin brought up the rear, exasperated with his teammates. Quite a ways down the long corridor, an alarm started blaring above them. Not a second later, a blur stopped in front of them.

* * *

Something moved on a monitor at the edge of Cisco’s vision. He fell silent and looked down at the bank of security feeds on the computer screen.

“What?” Barry asked. Cisco rarely stopped talking when he was on a roll.

“I could’ve sworn…” The next feed down the corridor caught his eye. “Heatwave.”

“What?” Barry asked again, surprised.

“He’s in the corridor with, uh, Laurel’s sister? And Professor Stein?”

“For real?” Barry leaned over Cisco’s shoulder to look. “I’ll go take care of them, I guess?”

He zoomed off and Cisco and Henry watched him appear a moment later on the monitor.

* * *

“Rory,” Barry greeted. He had some respect for Snart. Rory, less so.

“Barry,” Mick replied, much less gruffly.

“Professor, are you alright?”

“Yes, Mr. Allen. I am merely irritated with my colleagues’ appalling manners.”

Confusion stole across Barry’s features. “And you’re Sara Lance, right? Laurel’s sister.” She nodded, but it was stiff. She knew about Laurel, then. “I’m sorry,” he said. She nodded again and he glanced around. “Where’s Snart?” He and Rory were a matched set.

Mick’s face could have been carved from stone. Sara averted her eyes. And Barry didn’t miss the way she thumbed a ring on her left hand, or twisted her right hand in her jacket pocket. Any snarky comment about Snart raiding their equipment storage went right out the window. Something else was going on here.

“Mr. Snart is actually the reason we’re here,” Stein said.

“Did something happen?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have this conversation in the hallway,” Sara said. Her voice shook almost imperceptibly and Barry looked at her anew. He’d assumed the Canary was tough and hardened and he knew Heatwave was. But they both stood before him held together with duct tape and safety pins and determination. And he just wanted to offer them somewhere to sit.

“Of course. Cisco and my dad are just down here. Wells is in his lab. And Iris will be here in a few minutes.” He led them down toward the cortex. “Can I get you guys anything? Coffee? A snack? Bottle of water?”

Mick grunted. “Shut up, Barry.” He snapped his mouth shut.

When they walked into the cortex, Iris was already there, sitting beside Cisco and watching them enter. Henry stood on the far side of the room, arms crossed over his chest. Cisco had given him the highlights while they waited for Barry to bring the others, and he was conflicted to say the least. In a quick whoosh, Barry brought three chairs over for their guests. Mick didn’t sit, but Sara and Stein took them gratefully.

“Where’s Snart?” Iris asked.

“Dead,” Mick forced out.

Shocked silence blanketed the room. Leonard Snart, villain though he had been, had almost seemed immortal. He was a constant. Larger than life. With a cold gun and an infinite number of temperature related quips at his disposal. He couldn’t be gone. Barry leaned back against the desk, feeling like someone had scooped out his stomach.

“Wha - how?” Cisco stammered.

“Saving the team,” Stein said.

“And the universe,” Sara added, not meeting anyone’s eye. Iris dropped into the empty chair beside her. She took Sara’s hand and squeezed gently. This kind of grief Iris understood well, no matter how Sara tried to hide it. They must have had _some_ adventure for the White Canary to feel so strongly for Captain Cold.

Martin cleared his throat. “Mr. Snart sacrificed himself to spare Mr. Rory, Dr. Palmer, and the rest of our team, while destroying a device that was being used to manipulate the timeline and alter the lives of any person who has ever lived or ever will. He truly died a hero. And Ms. Lance has devised a plan that could save his life. But we need your help.”

Cisco watched Rory with an air of skepticism. But Henry looked thoughtful. “Barry,” he said. His son looked away from Iris and Sara. Something about their interaction tugged at his heart, but he couldn’t quite place the feeling. “I met Leonard Snart a few times at Iron Heights.” Barry opened his mouth, but Henry held up a hand to forestall him. “He was a thief, yes. And an unrepentant one. But of all the cons I met in there, he was one of the most decent. I doubt he would have thanked me for saying it, so I never did, but he seemed like a good man. A good man and a thief can coexist in one soul.”

Barry nodded.

“No offense, Henry,” Cisco said. “But he kidnapped me and tortured my brother.” He paused for a moment and added, “He cared about his sister, though.”

Barry furrowed his brow. “Do you need me to run back in time? Because that can get kind of messy.”

Sara shook her head, but Mick answered. “We have a time ship, kid.”

“We merely need you to outrun an explosion,” Stein said.

Iris looked at him then, one hand still gripping Sara’s. “It’s your decision, Barry. And we’ll support you whatever you decide.” But there was something beneath that. She held onto Sara, but Sara wasn’t crying and she wasn’t shaking or protesting. She was still and numb. It was kind of unnerving. Barry was no stranger to loss. No stranger to the way hidden grief could twist even the most neutral of expressions. Sara had just lost her sister. But beneath that he could see she had lost someone else, someone important, in Leonard Snart. It gave him pause.

“I need to think. Can I take a few minutes?”

“Of course,” Stein said, before Mick could warn him not to take too long.

“We have a time ship. We’re never late,” Sara said, voice like cold steel. Like a blade. Like she’d been convincing herself of that for days. Barry nodded once and took off.

“I feel like taking a walk,” Iris said. “You wanna join me Sara?”

Grateful for the neutral invite, Sara cleared her throat. “Sure.” Iris led them out of the cortex onto a meandering loop around Star Labs. They walked casually close, and Iris let Sara set the pace of their walk and conversation.

Sara appreciated the calm indulgence Iris offered. She didn’t act surprised, didn’t tiptoe around it, didn’t even ask. She understood. Just like Kendra would.

“Who did you lose?” Sara asked.

“My fiance, last year. And Barry a few days ago. And I almost lost Barry when the particle accelerator exploded. He was in a coma for nine months before he got his speed.”

Sara nodded. “How did you get him back this time?”

Iris let a funny little smile ghost across her lips. “Cisco gets these visions, vibes. And he saw that Barry was trapped in the Speedforce, so they figured out how Cisco could bring someone into his vibe. And I went in and called him home.”

“Are you and he -?”

She shook her head. “Not really. We’re something, or almost something. Have been for as long as I can remember, even if I didn’t know it.” She smiled self-deprecatingly and Sara couldn’t help but like her. “You and Snart?”

Sara’s brows furrowed. “I don’t know what we are. Nothing in name, I guess. Play gin a lot. Start a lot of bar fights. Drink. Steal things. Have each other’s backs. And he wanted a future together.” Iris linked their arms, and Sara was grateful for the support.

“I know I’d do anything to save Barry.”

“You did.”

“I’d do more. I felt so helpless when he was in the coma. And now, I can help save him. I know how you’re feeling, Sara.”

“You don’t think I’m being desperate or crazy?” She glanced at Iris. “Because sometimes the guys look at me and it’s just -”

“Pity. Like you’re gonna break. Or blow up at them.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s not desperate or crazy. Even to actually blow up at them or fall apart.” She paused as they turned a corner. “Or maybe it is, but that’s what we do for love.” Sara swallowed thickly, but nodded.

Iris could feel the muscles contracting in Sara’s arm. She glanced down and Sara was flicking a silver ring with her thumb. Sara hadn’t struck her as someone who wore much jewelry. And she really hadn’t struck her as the fidgeting type.

“New ring?” Iris asked. She doubted that was it, but Sara could take the out if she didn’t want to talk about it.

Sara’s hand stilled. “It’s Snart’s. He left it with Mick, who gave it to me.”

Recognizing her tone, Iris latched onto something that she hoped would be easier. “Speaking of Rory, he seems different. What happened to him?”

* * *

Cisco watched Mick with suspicious eyes. “You seem different.”

“Mr. Rory spent some time in the employment of the Time Masters,” Stein answered neutrally.

“Time Masters?” Cisco said. Time travel, no matter how many times Barry did it, never ceased to bring out his inner child.

“Don’t get too excited, kid. They’re evil,” Mick said.

“Evil?” Henry asked, casually curious.

Rory looked at him. He’d heard plenty about Henry Allen in Iron Heights and he respected the man in a way. “They were the ones perverting the timeline all along, helping Savage. They’re the reason Snart’s dead.”

“And his final act destroyed them,” Stein said.

Cisco looked at them agog. Appalled by what he was hearing. “The Time Masters are evil.”

“You didn’t see that coming?” Henry asked.

Cisco shook his head slowly. “Maybe calling yourself the Time _Masters_ is a little suspicious. But time travel is supposed to be so cool. I kind of feel like I just found out my favorite love song was written about a sandwich.”

Mick rolled his eyes. “Speaking of _love_ , can you find Lisa? I looked and never found her.”

“I could track her gun, I think.”

“When we get back, I want to know where she is.”

“Uh, okay. When are you getting back?”

“Within the hour, Mr. Ramon,” Stein said.

“Right,” Cisco said. “I should get on that.” He turned back to his computer and got to work.

Sara and Iris stepped into the room, just finishing their conversation. “No, I think it’s sweet. And I totally get it,” Iris said. Sara looked lighter, less like the world was crushing her. They sat in their chairs again. And Henry looked over at Sara with pursed lips.

“Sara,” he began, “would you mind if I checked you over?”

“Henry’s a doctor,” Iris said.

She gave him a tight smile. “We have a robot doctor on the ship.”

Stein was the one to roll his eyes this time. “You have told Gideon off for trying to assess your health multiple times in the last few days.” Sara scowled. “You threatened to reboot her.”

“I won’t even ask you to move to the infirmary,” Henry said, jutting his chin at the adjoining room.

She looked around and everyone, except Cisco who was busy, watched her with open concern. “Fine.”

Henry knelt in front of her, taking her pulse at her wrist. Then he rested the back of his hand on her forehead. He pulled out a penlight and tested her pupillary reaction. Satisfied, he rocked back on his heels.

“Are you eating?”

She shrugged.

“Sleeping?”

She shrugged again. “Not much.”

“And not well, I’m guessing.”

“The League trained me to combat sleep deprivation.”

“I see that,” he said. “And stave off the effects of shock too, I’d say.” Sara nodded. “You’re going to have to deal with that eventually.”

“After we save Leonard.”

He smiled at her stubbornness. “Well, you’re fit for duty for the moment. Though your fine motor functions will start suffering soon if you don’t sleep.”

“Thanks Henry,” she said, feeling a rush of fondness for Barry’s father.

“Mr. Rory?” Henry asked in his best leading doctor tone.

“I’ve slept some. Focused on the plan. And vengeance.”

“Against?”

“Savage.”

“And once you’ve dealt with him?”

Mick looked askance at him. “All goes well, Snart will already be back by then.”

“When has anything ever gone -” Martin started to ask before catching himself. They were still trying to be positive.

“- according to plan?” Sara finished. “Never. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. And probably burn it behind us.”

There was something almost amused in Henry’s disapproving look.

Barry sped into the room with a whoosh of air. Cisco casually caught a few papers with his hand, never looking up from his computer.

“Made your decision, Bar?” Iris asked. He knew she’d support his choice, that’s what she’d done all their lives, but she watched him expectantly. She wasn’t going to voice it, but she had a preference. And he wanted to do the right thing. He wanted her to think he’d made the right choice. All he could do was chose.

“Leonard Snart,” Barry began, “for all that he was and wasn’t, was a good man. And part of his death is on me.”

“It’s not your fault, kid,” Mick said. “Snart made his own choice.”

“I know. He chose to be a hero. Something _I_ told him he could be. And I didn’t let him ignore it. It’s not my fault. But it is partly my responsibility and now I need to help you. The world needs Leonard Snart, the hero, in it. And that’s a version of Snart I’d like to meet.”

Sara stood, smiling, and crossed the room to him. She stuck out her hand. “Welcome on board, Flash.” He shook her hand with a bright smile.

“Let me get my suit on,” he said. And a second later, he stood before them in his Flash suit.

Turning around, Sara asked, “Iris? Did you want to come?”

“What?”

“You could wait on the Waverider, instead of here.”

“I doubt Captain Hunter will appreciate you bringing even more people onto the ship,” Stein said.

“If you really think I care what Rip thinks, you haven’t been paying attention,” Sara said with a smirk. “What do you say, Iris?”

She thought for a moment, gaze coming to rest on Barry. “Yeah, I’d like to come.”

“Why don’t I drive you all to your ship?” Henry offered. He hadn’t gotten the chance to shuttle his son around with his friends as a kid. And this was different, but he would take it.

Barry smiled at him. “That would be great, Dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Next up: Barry and Iris's first time on a time ship, some good-natured ribbing, and final preparations. (Plus, reflection on the nature of Rip Hunter)


	8. Miles To Go Before I Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry, the time traveling speedster, thinks time ships are awesome. Final preparations are made. And Sara ruminates on the nature of Rip Hunter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Long time no chapter! That's kind of my fault, and grad school's fault. But, my term is over and I'm back to writing. I haven't posted because I haven't had time to write, which is a shame. I'm off for a month and only have a half load for the summer, so with any luck and minimal writer's block you'll be getting more chapters more frequently for the next couple of months.
> 
> Also, thank you to emme-lou-roo, whose recent review was just the spark I needed to stop my post-term hibernation and do this. Thank you! And also thanks so so so much to anyone and everyone who voted for this fic for Best WIP for the Captain Canary Awards over on tumblr. I appreciate it more than I can say, and I'm glad that you guys are loving this story as much as I do.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

_The wood is lovely, dark and deep,_  
 _But I have promises to keep,_  
 _And miles to go before I sleep,_  
 _And miles to go before I sleep._  
-Robert Frost, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

* * *

The Star Labs van pulled up in a vacant lot near the edge of town, Henry Allen behind the wheel, Martin Stein riding shotgun, and an assortment of heroes and legends crammed into the back. Sara was the first one out of the van, pushing a button on a small remote in her hand. The Waverider shimmered into visibility.

“Now that’s cool,” Henry said, staring at the time ship.

Martin grinned at him. “It certainly is. Thank you for the ride, Henry.” He shook the other man’s hand.

“Should I wait around and drive you back?”

“We’ll take the jump ship,” Sara said. “Jax and Ray are tinkering with it for the mission right now.”

Henry nodded and moved to hug his son. “Good luck, Barry.”

“Thanks Dad.”

He hugged Iris next. “You keep an eye on him.”

“Yes sir,” she said, grinning.

Henry even shook Mick’s hand and gave Sara a quick hug before watching them all enter the ship and waving goodbye.

* * *

“This is so cool!” Barry looked around with wide-eyed wonder. Sara and Mick led them to the bridge so they could jump to a safe place in the temporal zone. Barry was spinning in place to take it all in, while Iris and Sara watched with amusement. That’s when Rip walked in.

He glanced at the spinning superhero. Then at Iris. “Ms. Lance, are you incapable of visiting any time period without picking up strays?”

“Shut up Rip. You’re just grouchy because Miranda and Jonas are confined to medbay when we jump.” His scowl only proved her right. “Besides, Iris isn’t a stray.” Until that moment, she’d kept her tone light and friendly. Sometimes that was the only way to defuse Rip’s sourness. But now he was wasting time. Her voice hardened, became firm, though not necessarily unkind. “Now, go sit in the captain’s chair and get ready to jump. Or I will.”

His scowl deepened, but he did sit in the captain’s chair. Jax and Ray stepped onto the bridge, having been summoned from the jump ship’s dock by Gideon. Barry greeted them both with a wave and a big smile. He was nearly as enthusiastic about the prospect of time travel as Ray, and _he_ was physically capable of doing it without the ship.

Sara, impatient to get underway, stepped up to the console. “Gideon, how did we do with that parking spot?”

“Gideon?” Barry said, surprise coloring his features.

“Hello Barry Allen.” It almost sounded like the AI was smiling.

“Hi again.”

“I am very glad you are here. I have -”

Rip cut across her. “Gideon, please be mindful of Mr. Allen’s timeline.”

“Yes, Captain Hunter. However -”

“Gideon,” Mick interrupted. “Parking spot.”

She almost sounded irritated, if she weren’t a computer. “If you are referring to the safe location of the temporal zone where the Waverider will await the rescue team, I have successfully located a small section of the time stream. I have laid in the coordinates and forwarded them to the jump ship’s auxiliary time drive.”

“Thank you Gideon. Are we ready to jump?” Sara asked.

“Yes Ms. Lance.”

She turned to Barry and Iris. “You wanna be strapped in for this.” Jax had already joined Stein in their seats on the far side of the bridge. Ray sat in the seat beside them, the empty chair to his left somewhere between mocking and hopeful. Mick and Sara took the next pair, and Barry and Iris took the final set. Rip looked around at them all, nodded once to Sara and Mick, and engaged the time drive.

It was a rough ride, and Gideon was constantly correcting their course. Without the Oculus, the pathways twisted in flux as they passed. But the Wellspring was on the far side of the Vanishing Point, which existed outside of time. It would still be in exactly the same place. The trick was to park the Waverider in the temporal zone, as close to where the Wellspring would be as possible.

When the Waverider finally stopped shaking - Jax had made repairs, but it was a rough trip to the edge of eternity - Iris’s hand shot out for Barry’s and her eyes roved back and forth, unseeing. Stein shook off a bit of dizziness and even Barry knew he couldn’t stand for a few moments. He gripped Iris’s searching hand and released both of their restraints.

“I can’t see,” she said with a note of panic.

Mick stood in the space between his seat and hers. “It’ll pass. Time travel has side effects, and this was a rough trip.” He looked over. “Even Allen’s feeling it. Aren’t you kid?”

“Why aren’t you?” Barry asked. He felt better already, but Iris still held his hand tightly.

Rip cut in. “Mr. Rory spent several lifetimes in the service of the Time Masters. He is much more acclimated to time travel than even the average Time Master.”

“Don’t worry,” Ray said loudly. His hearing was a little muffled from the trip. “He’s on our side again.”

Mick gave him the side eye. “I’m on _my_ side.”

“And Leonard’s,” Sara said. She wasn’t feeling much of an effect from the trip, but she also didn’t much feel like getting out of her comfortable slouch.

“And Snart’s,” Mick agreed. Then smirked. “And sometimes Sara’s.” She smiled to herself.

“Not mine?” Ray asked.

“No.” Ray pouted. Sara smirked. Mick had a secret soft spot for Ray, annoying though he found him, just like he did for the rest of the team. And everyone’s good-natured bickering was distracting Iris while they waited for her sight to return.

“Oh,” Iris breathed.

“Better?” Barry asked quietly. Sara watched them.

Mick leaned over and offered her a smirk. “Yeah, you two were just as mushy and gooey-eyed as them.”

She smacked him on the arm. Hard. “We are not mushy!”

Jax caught her eye and made a so-so gesture with his hand. “Maybe a little.” She glared at him and he put his hands up in surrender.

“May I remind you, Sara, you devised a complex plan to bend the rules of time and space in order to save Mr. Snart. Is that not mushy?” Rip asked.

“Takes one to know one,” she shot back. A juvenile part of her just enjoyed arguing with Rip.

“Touché.” Rip glanced at the team assembled before him. “Ms. Lance, Mr. Jackson, I trust you’ll fill in Mr. Allen on the plan.” At their nods, he added, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check on my wife and son.”

Barry stood, moving toward the console. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”

They explained it to him. It was fairly simple. But the timing was the weak link. It had to be perfect. Jax and Barry hovered over the console together, talking seconds and speed, Stein chiming in with equations occasionally. Sara wondered if this was what it was like with Team Flash. Judging by Iris’s casual reaction, she guessed so.

“Do you have some sort of countdown of the few seconds before I have to be in there? If I can get a sense of when I need to start running, I might not have to waste the first two seconds getting inside.”

“We’ve got video,” Jax said. “It’s pretty rough, but -”

“Yeah, that’s great.” Sara sat down beside Iris. Barry turned to look at her. “You don’t wanna -”

“She watched it earlier,” Mick said. She hadn’t actually _watched_ it, but Barry didn’t need to know that.

The video began, Druce yelling in his distorted voice. Iris, perceptive as she was, gripped Sara’s hand.

“There are no strings on me.”

Iris closed her eyes for a moment. She hadn’t liked Snart that much, but hearing him give himself for the team, a smart ass to the bitter end, sparked a bright pain in her chest. She could easily imagine how Sara must be feeling. Again, she marveled at the adventure they must have had for Leonard Snart to inspire this kind of response. For him to chose the selfless, heroic path. Iris wasn’t naive or cynical enough to believe that people couldn’t change, and she could see, under the icy armor, the core of good in Snart. But it was strange to think of him as a hero.

“The timing is gonna be really tight on this, Sara,” Barry said, looking up from some quick calculations.

“Yeah, well, time is not the boss of me.”

Barry nodded once and went back to his math. “I think if I leave the jump ship before he stops talking it’ll work -” He typed a quick set of numbers into an equation. “If I start running when he says ‘strings’, we should be fine.”

“Barry,” Gideon began, politely, “my calculations indicate the chance of success in this endeavor is approaching impossibility.”

“Have a little faith Gideon,” Mick said.

Sara huffed out a breath and stood. “Jax, Barry, get ready to go.” She set a hand briefly on Mick’s shoulder. He nodded at her.

“Go be a hero, Barry,” Iris said, rocking up on her toes to hug him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

“You sure about this Gray? If something goes wrong -”

“I have no doubt in your skills or your plan, Jefferson. You will make it back to the Waverider and I will suffer no ill effects. Now go save Mr. Snart’s life.” Jax clapped him on the shoulder and followed Sara toward the jump ship, Barry bringing up the rear.

Mick raised an eyebrow at Stein. “No doubt?” he asked once the others were gone.

The professor shrugged. “I might have exaggerated. Slightly.”

“Just slightly?” Ray asked. “This plan is - almost impossible. I mean, I get it, we need to at least try to save him. But something is going to go wrong.”

“When doesn’t it, Raymond?” Stein asked.

“Planning only gets you so far, Haircut,” Mick said. “After that, you gotta take a few leaps of faith.”

“More like a BASE jump of faith,” Ray said.

Mick raised a sardonic eyebrow. “Good thing Sara’s the one making the jump then.”

* * *

Rip met the rescue team at the jump ship, hands in his trouser pockets and t-shirt beyond rumpled. An uncertain frown creased his brow, and Sara realized, for perhaps the first time, how out of his depth Rip truly was. He had discovered a wrong he couldn’t abide and set out to right it, even though he didn’t know how. He’d asked for help - through kidnapping, but still. And he’d discovered that good intentions only got you so far. That they did, in fact, pave the road to Hell.

Maybe he just didn’t want her to make his mistakes.

But Sara had already been to Hell and back, in more ways than one. And this living Hell was the one she couldn’t abide. Maybe she was out of her depth too, but not as much as Rip. Even so, sometimes it felt easier to just swim down, but every now and then her feet still brushed the bottom.

And it wasn’t like she’d never drowned before.

“I don’t want to beat a dead horse,” Rip said. “But I need to be certain you are all aware of just how impossible this mission is.” He brought up a hand to forestall any protests. “I do not intend to persuade you not to go, but I cannot in good conscience allow you to go without being sure you know the risks.”

Sara didn’t say a word, just watched him. She would happily be the whole rescue team on her own and Rip didn’t need to be told that.

“Snart died to save us, Rip. We owe him that much. Risky or not, it’s the right thing to do,” Jax said.

Barry nodded. “I think Snart already had the seed of heroism inside of him. But I don’t think he would have died here and now, on this mission with you, if I hadn’t pushed the issue. Leonard Snart is a hero and he is worth saving. I’ve risked my life for people less deserving.”

“Then I wish you godspeed,” Rip said.

The rescue team nodded and climbed into the jump ship. As soon as the hatch closed, Gideon chimed in.

“Captain, the chances of -”

“I know the odds, Gideon.”

She paused for a long moment while Rip watched the jump ship launch. “Barry Allen has yet to create me.” She paused again, and then spoke in a tone that could almost have been frightened if she weren’t a computer. “I do not want to stop existing.”

“I know. Neither do I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: The plan is executed, people get a bit lost, and Miranda apologizes.
> 
> Sara's rumination is basically just me considering that Rip might be a terrible captain because he's not really a captain or a hero or whatever. He's just sort of a normal Time Master employee trying to fix something broken. (Hence his trust in his bosses) Like if an accountant dad tried to put on a cape and spandex. He'd be a little useless and very out of his depth, but his heart is in the right place. I like a sympathetic interpretation of his incompetence, which is probably obvious since I'm giving him his family back.
> 
> Well, I hope this chapter made up a tiny bit for me being MIA for so long. Next chapter should do much more to make up for it. I hope to have that out within a week or two.


	9. And Never Stops At All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara's plan finally comes to fruition - now with added jargon and blushing Barry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Sorry it's been a little longer than expected. I went home for vacation, my mom took me shopping to the point that it almost didn't all fit in my suitcase, and then we crashed a birthday party. So, I didn't get as much writing done as I had hoped.
> 
> But I've got another chapter done now, and summer term is about to start, but hopefully I'll still have some time to keep on top of this.
> 
> Please enjoy!

 

_Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all - Emily Dickinson_

* * *

“Oculus Wellspring,” Jax said. “We're on the far side, away from where I parked the jump ship last time.”

“We’re still here?” Sara asked. Jax pulled up the local video feeds. These ones didn't jump and pixelate. He nodded. “Ok, let's open the hatch and wait.” Sara opened the hatch manually, testing how long it took. Barry stepped up beside her and pulled up the cowl of his suit. Jax sent the video feed to the passenger bay and they watched Ray argue with Rip. They watched Mick hit Ray. Then watched Leonard hit Mick. “You go on strings, remember?”

“Yeah, I re - did you just - ?” He stared at the screen, eyes wide. Sara was sure she was kissing Snart about now. “You and Sna -”

“Shut up and get ready to run, Barry.” A moment later. “Run!”

Barry shot out of the ship in a whoosh of lightning. He entered the room just as Leonard said, “me” and was more than elbow deep in a the Oculus less than a second later. Deploying the baton took half a second longer than he'd hoped. He gripped Snart firmly around the waist and made for the ship in just enough time. They landed in a heap of spent momentum on the passenger bay floor, Sara locking the hatch behind them.

She was already yelling, “Punch it Jax!” And a second later, Barry's stomach got left behind.

He sat up, pulling himself onto a seat near Jax and pushing his cowl off.

Snart still sat on the floor, dazed, legs sprawled in front of him. Sara knelt between them, gripping the collar of his jacket. In a move that did not surprise Barry at all now - but made him blush as red as his suit - she hauled him up to kiss him soundly. His hands fluttered to rest on her hips.

When she pulled back to breathe and look at him, alive, he smirked. “Well, I must be one hell of a thief after all.”

She slapped him across the face. Barry and Jax both flinched at the sound.

“If you ever die for us again, I'll kill you myself.”

“Noted.” He rubbed his cheek gingerly. She hadn't held back on that slap. “So, I'm not dead, then.”

“You were,” she said, sagging a little and releasing the front of his jacket completely.

“How long did it take?”

“Long enough.” She leaned up and captured his mouth again. “You never had to steal a kiss, Leonard.”

“I didn't?” he asked, smiling.

“No, you didn't.” She pulled a now soft and smudged playing card from her jacket pocket and flicked it between two fingers to face him. “Knave of Hearts.” He understood immediately, plucking it from her hand and tucking it back in her pocket.

“I think this suits you better.” She raised an eyebrow. “You're a hell of a thief, too, maybe one of the best.”

“What do you mean?”

He quirked an odd smile. “You stole a heart from a man who didn't have one and you stole life back from Death itself. I think that qualifies.”

She dimpled up at him. “I think we can share the title. _Clyde_.”

He smirked. “You're on, Bonnie.”

“Would you _please_ get a room?” Jax asked from the pilot’s seat.

Sara buried a chuckle in Leonard’s shoulder. “We have two,” Leonard said, “on the Waverider. When are we getting back there Fireboy?”

“As soon as I figure out where it went.”

“What do you mean where it went?” Sara asked going to stand behind him. Leonard followed. “We parked it.”

Jax sighed quietly. “Well, without the Oculus -”

“The temporal zone is in flux,” Sara finished. Leonard raised an eyebrow. Of course, he didn’t know what the ripple effects were. “The - uh - river, the time stream -” he nodded, “is constantly changing shape now without the Oculus to anchor it. It was hard enough finding a safe place to leave the Waverider.”

“It should be right here,” Jax said. “But _here_ isn’t where it should be.”

“Right, because that made sense,” Leonard said.

“You wanna try flying this thing?” Jax asked, frustrated.

“Actually, I -”

“Guys,” Barry said, putting his hands up between them. “Maybe we should try to figure this out and fight about it later.”

Sara stepped away to open a metal hatch in the passenger bay. She pulled two rolls of ancient paper and a brass instrument out, laying them on the floor behind Leonard.

“Did you steal Rip’s maps?” Leonard asked with a smirk on his lips and pride sparking in his eyes.

She looked up at him through her lashes. It should have been coy, but she just looked like the best kind of wicked he could imagine.

“Always plan for the worst with this team.”

“Sara planned the whole rescue,” Jax offered. “She saved Rip’s family, too.”

“We’re in good hands, I know,” Leonard said. “You fly, we’ll navigate.” He knelt beside her on the floor.

For the next several minutes, Jax read off the time drive’s coordinates, Sara read out where the map said they should be, and Barry stood at a wall interface and ran the calculations so they could establish a baseline of change. Leonard kept this straight by marking the map with a pencil. After almost half an hour, he had redrawn a more accurate depiction of how the time stream had shifted when the Oculus exploded. The bad news was that it had twisted and they were going the wrong way up a different fork in the time stream.

Though Jax wouldn’t call it a u-turn (Leonard did and would continue to), he turned the ship around and they encountered a different, but not new problem.

“For real?” Barry said, looking at the instrument panel.

“Yes, Barry, for real,” Leonard said.

“Why is it twisting differently here than on the other side of the Vanishing Point?” Jax asked.

“It exists outside of time,” Sara suggested. “So maybe the part of the temporal zone closest to it will be affected the worst.”

“Because it’s not part of the time stream itself,” Barry said, words catching up with his thoughts. “The Oculus is exploding at a point outside of time, so it’s not exploding at _any_ point in time. But it’s also exploding at _every_ point in time. It’s Schrödinger’s explosion.”

Leonard looked at Barry from under lowered brows. “Quit with the geek speak. We need to run the calculations again.” He didn’t mention that he wanted to be on the Waverider sooner rather than later, but it was understood. And seconded for more than one reason. If they took too long to get back, would Rip leave without them?

This time, they calculated the shift much faster. It only took ten minutes for them to determine they were only four degrees off course and could be back on the ship in less than a quarter of an hour.

* * *

Miranda and Jonas, clad in pyjamas and slippers and dressing gowns, stood on the Waverider’s bridge looking out the forward window. She stood behind her son, one arm wrapped around him and the other pointing at something in the time stream while she spoke quietly. Rip stood at the console, gaze never leaving his family. Iris leaned against the other end of the window, listening to Miranda’s explanations.

“They’ve been gone a long time, Rip,” Ray said.

Rip sighed. “I know, but I have to believe they are coming back.” Mick hummed in agreement, though it sounded almost like a grunt.

“What if they’re already dead?” Ray kept his voice low.

“They may have simply missed us in the time stream, Raymond,” Stein offered.

“Whoa!” Jonas gasped, watching temporal energy swirl out the window. Miranda explained in a soft voice exactly what Mick and Rip realized in that moment.

“The time stream is shifting,” Mick said.

“Because the Oculus is exploding outside of time,” Rip added.

Then Rip was a dervish of limbs and desperation as he tore into his study looking for his maps. Everyone watched for a moment in silence. Mick walked over to the doorway. Miranda stepped closer.

“Darling?” she asked hesitantly.

“Where are they?” he asked. “Where are they?! WHERE ARE THEY?!” He looked up. “My maps. We could calculate where the coordinates would have taken them and meet the jump ship there.” Mick was smirking. “ _What_ Mr. Rory?”

“Snart’s not the only light-fingered one on this team,” he said.

A light went off in Stein’s eyes. “Are you suggesting Sara took them? As what? Precaution?” Mick nodded.

“If that’s the case, we should stay here. They’ll be able to find us,” Ray said.

“Yes, a mechanic, a CSI, an assassin, and _possibly_ , a thief. I’m sure they’ll find us in no time.”

“Rip,” Miranda scolded lightly. “They’re your team and they’re very capable. I’m sure Sara wouldn’t have taken the maps if she didn’t know how to use them.” Rip sighed and nodded. Sara had proven herself an excellent temporal navigator, Jax had taught himself to maintain a spaceship, Barry would one day program Gideon, and Snart, if they’d rescued him, was exceedingly clever and had planned a multitude of complex heists. They’d be fine. “He insults people when he’s stressed,” Miranda said with an air of apology that spoke to their long and familiar relationship.

“We know,” Mick said mildly.

Rip ran his fingers through his hair. “Ok, so we stay here. For how long?” No one answered. He didn’t seem to need input. “They could be experiencing time loss and gain, fluctuation from the unstable time stream.” He huffed out a frustrated breath. “So could we.”

Miranda stepped in. “Gideon, why don’t you monitor the temporal zone for 24 ship hours and we can reassess then.”

“Of course, Ms. Coburn.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leonard Snart lives! (as if it was even an option for me to have the plan fail)
> 
> Next Chapter: The rescue team returns, Iris is becoming genre savvy, and there are pancakes.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me everyone. I'm planning to take this fic until the canonical end of season 1, so we'll be rescuing Kendra and Carter. I've written up to the point of leaving for 1944, so we've got a little bit to go after that. And the current trajectory in my head is to write a sequel as an alternate season 2 (with Nate and Amaya because I like them), and then perhaps some small ficlets here and there. I've got ideas in this canon divergent verse and they don't want to let me go.


	10. The Irrationality of a Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescue team returns, breakfast is eaten, and Leonard learns what's happened since he "died".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovely readers! I'm so sorry for abandoning you for months, but I went on vacation and now school is killing me. I haven't actually done any writing; this is a chapter I had in my buffer. I'm doing a tiny bit of writing now and I think I'll get more done over winter break. Realistically, you can probably expect another chapter before Christmas, but likely not within the month. I just wanted to give you guys something because I don't want to abandon you completely, and I enjoy this chapter a lot.
> 
> I hope your last few months have been less crazy than mine. Thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoy!

 

_The irrationality of a thing is not an argument against its existence, rather, a condition of it. - Nietzche_

 

* * *

 

Jax docked the jump ship smoothly with the Waverider. Fewer things had gone wrong on this mission than he'd expected, which was rare. And exactly the sort of thing that crosses your mind right before something goes wrong. The corridors were quiet when they docked, no running teammates come to greet them. It felt, at that moment, like a ghost ship.

“Uh, Gideon?” Barry said.

“I'm very glad you've returned unharmed, Barry,” she said in greeting. “And it is good to see you alive, Mr. Snart.”

“Thanks, Gideon. I think what Barry was trying to say is, where is everyone?” Leonard asked.

“Most of the team is asleep. Ms. West and Jonas are playing Go Fish in the medbay. You have been gone for 9.4 ship hours.”

Just then, Mick rounded the corner, setting his gaze on Leonard. “You fuckin’ idiot.” He yanked his friend into a bone crushing hug. Len patted him gingerly on the back. Mick only held on tighter. Giving in, Leonard wrapped his arms fully around his oldest friend.

Knowing that discretion was the high road here, Jax quietly led Barry toward medbay. Iris was undoubtedly very worried. And Sara and the Rogues deserved a private moment.

Mick slowly released Leonard, only to turn to Sara and wrap her in a hug too. It was brief, but her small frame nearly disappeared within his arms. She patted his cheek when he pulled away and Leonard watched them quizzically. Just how long had he been gone?

In medbay, Iris sat cross-legged with Jonas on his bed. They played Go Fish on the blanket between them. She had already napped and he wasn't tired, so she'd offered to stay up and keep him entertained. She hadn't really expected the rescue team to arrive so quietly and with such little drama. Maybe it was knowing that things rarely went right for them, or that Snart was a drama queen, but she'd somehow expected them to screech around the corner, on fire, yelling for them to punch it because time zombies were after them. Or at least, she wouldn't have been surprised.

Barry stepped into medbay with Jax. Iris turned around. “Barry!” She jumped up, cards forgotten, to hug him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. “What took you so long?”

“We were only gone an hour or so,” he said.

She pursed her lips. “Rip said we might experience time fluctuations. I guess this is what he meant.”

“Gideon, can you assemble the team on the bridge?”

“Of course, Barry.”

Barry and Iris stood in the same spot, arms around each other, for a long moment. When they looked up, Jax had taken over Iris’s game of Go Fish with Jonas.

 

* * *

 

Fifteen minutes later, the team, awake but still mostly wearing pajamas, stood on the bridge. Ray rubbed sleep from his eyes and Martin cinched his bathrobe a little tighter. The doors slid open. Jax, Jonas, Iris, and Barry stepped onto the bridge, Iris holding tightly to Barry’s hand.

“Jefferson!” Martin said, voice gruff with sleep but no less joyful.

Ray looked more closely at them. “So, did you save Snart?” he asked as they approached.

The doors slid open again. Mick stepped in. Followed by Sara and Leonard. There was no cheer around the bridge, but there was a definite change in the atmosphere. Ray’s grin was very nearly blinding. And Rip didn’t bother to suppress his shock. Miranda held tightly to his arm, a bright, tearful smile stretching her lips.

“I can’t believe it actually worked! It’s a miracle!” Ray said, beaming. He stepped forward to hug Snart, but was rebuffed. If he pushed Palmer off him somewhat more gently than he otherwise would have, no one commented.

“You’ve done the impossible, Sara,” Martin said.

Gideon corrected him. “Ms. Lance’s plan was only nearly impossible. I believe sheer determination was a factor in its success.”

Rip almost smirked. “Well, the universe is vast, and complicated, and ridiculous. And sometimes impossible things just happen, and we call them miracles.” He paused. “Welcome back, Mr. Snart.” Leonard nodded.

Martin smiled. “It’s good to have you back.” Leonard nodded at him too, letting a small smile play about his lips.

“Uh, I hate to interrupt the celebration, but do you guys have a kitchen or something?” Barry asked. “My blood sugar’s getting kind of low.” Sara raised an eyebrow at him. “Speedster metabolism. I have to eat like 10,000 calories a day.”

“Or he passes out,” Iris added.

This time, Leonard smirked. “You shouldn’t let a supervillain learn your weakness.”

Barry rolled his eyes. “But you’re not a supervillain anymore. You’re a hero now, Snart. And this time you can’t deny it. You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the universe.” Leonard scowled. A laugh bubbled up and slipped out of Sara’s lips.

“Traitor,” he muttered at her.

“Nope, you deserved that one, _hero_.” She smirked. “Come on, we’ll join you in the kitchen Barry. I’m starving. Gideon, get the pancakes cooking!”

Gideon replied, “I will add a nutrient supplement to them to mitigate the meals you have missed.”

Leonard regarded her. “How many meals has Sara missed, Gideon?”

“She has eaten one small meal in approximately the past thirty hours,” Gideon said. “I have no data for the days she remained off-ship in 2016.” Leonard’s eyes narrowed.

Sara sent him an overly bright grin. “See, I’m hungry.” He rolled his eyes. “Time for pancakes,” she said, gripping his elbow and pulling him toward the kitchen with her. Not that he resisted. At all.

 

* * *

 

Mick stood at the stove, perfectly cooking a truly magnificent number of pancakes. He served two onto Iris’s plate directly from the spatula. And then made a large stack of them on Barry’s. Both of them thanked him, despite their raised eyebrows. The rest of the team got their pancakes with easy smiles, as if this were any old Thursday.

“I didn’t know Rory could cook,” Iris said. Mostly because Barry was making his confused face, but his mouth was stuffed with syrupy pancake.

Leonard shrugged. “It’s food and fire. Of course he can cook.”

Iris snorted and rolled her eyes. “Should’ve guessed that.” He nodded.

Jonas stepped up beside the stove and Mick bent at the knees to put two big pancakes on his plate. He grinned up at Mick, who patted his shoulder and sent him on his way. Mick piled a stack of pancakes onto his own plate, set an extra two on Barry’s and one on Sara’s, and sat down across from Leonard.

“Thanks for cooking, Mick,” Ray said, smiling. Mick grunted.

“Yeah, man, these are great,” Jax said.

Rip chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and looked at Sara. “Ms. Lance, may I have my maps back, now that you’ve finished with them?”

She smirked. “Sure Rip. Not apologizing for stealing them, though.”

“No, I expected as much.” He sighed. “At least you returned safely.”

 

* * *

 

Breakfast in the middle of what passed for night in the temporal zone ended quietly. Barry, after eating at least a dozen pancakes, started to lean against Iris’s shoulder with drooping eyes. She smiled and laid her head on top of his. Jonas was finally starting to yawn. And even Ray wasn’t buzzing and chattering. With the adrenaline crash, Jax, Sara, and Leonard were slowing as well. Rip gazed out at the hodge podge crew.

“I think we should all get a couple more hours of sleep before we jump back to 2016,” he said. “Then we can make a plan for how to stop Savage and save Kendra and Carter.” Nods all around. Martin and Iris stood to collect the plates and put them in the dishwasher.

The others, thanking them in quiet voices, began to drift out of the kitchen and toward the crew quarters. Jonas followed his parents to Rip’s quarters. And Jax led Barry and Iris along the same hallway, offering Carter’s old room, and Kendra’s if they wanted separate ones.

“Oh, I think we’ll be fine,” she said. “Thanks Jax.” He nodded and left them at the door. She nudged Barry through it as it opened.

He turned and spluttered, “I, uh, what? We will?”

She fixed him with a look. “Barry, I’m tired, and I want to sleep.” He nodded, expression no less confused. “You’ve been gone for _nine_ hours and I was worried sick. We are going to sleep and I’m not going to worry about where you are.”

“Right, yes, we are.” He nodded.

 

* * *

 

Sara, Leonard, and Mick walked down the corridor toward their rooms. As they reached Mick’s, he grabbed Leonard’s arm and tugged him around. He wrapped him in another bear hug.

“This time,” Mick whispered gruffly, “don’t fuck it up.” Leonard didn’t need to ask what ‘it’ was. He nodded and clapped Mick on the shoulder as he pulled away. “Good work, blondie.”

She smiled. “Night Mick.”

If they both spoke with a little more open fondness than they had before, Leonard didn’t bother to mention it. Just stored it away for future thought.

They continued down the hall until they reached Sara’s door. Just as Leonard opened his mouth to speak, she gripped his forearm and pulled him inside. She let go and went to rummage in her dresser. A pair of sweats hit him in the chest and he caught them on reflex. He looked at them. These had been _his_ sweats. Until a couple of weeks ago when he suddenly couldn’t find them. Apparently, Sara was a better thief than he’d thought. She smirked and pulled out the leggings and sweater she’d been wearing earlier.

“You’re stealing clothes now, assassin?” he asked, shrugging out of his jacket and tossing it across the desk chair. She grinned at him. More cat than canary. He turned away to change. She didn’t. “Are you not gonna turn your back?”

She tossed her own jacket aside and reached for the hem of her shirt. “Nope.” A smirk played about her lips.

Leonard half turned away and changed out of his jeans and into his sweats. He could feel Sara’s eyes on his ass the entire time. Ah well. Turnabout was fair play. After a moment’s hesitation, he pulled off his sweater, leaving him in his black undershirt. When he turned back toward her, Sara had changed into her leggings, but was tossing aside the sweater she had been about to pull on over her bra. She reached for the one he had just taken off and he handed it over wordlessly. She put it on. Then he watched as she took off her bra from under his shirt and tossed it on her pile of laundry. It wasn’t interesting in and of itself - Lisa had done that a thousand times - but it was Sara, swimming in his sweater, still warm from him wearing it, braless. Mick was right. He really needed to not fuck this up.

Sara yawned. He raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t been sleeping well,” she said, answering his unspoken question.

“Why?”

She bit her lip and glanced away. She took his hand. “Lay down with me? I’ll explain.” He nodded and climbed onto the bed with her. She pushed him over and lay down with her head on his chest. “You were gone. And Rip was being an ass. So he dropped us back home. In _May_ of 2016.” He tightened his grip. “Laurel died in April. Damien Darhk killed her. I went home and she was already gone.” He could hear the grief in her voice.

He held her tighter against him, carded his fingers through her hair. “Oh, Sara. I’m so sorry.” A few tears leaked onto his shirt and he pressed a light kiss to her crown. “You came for me because you couldn’t save her.”

“I wanted to save you both.”

“But Rip said no.”

She nodded into his chest. He was warm through the thin cotton t-shirt, and his arms felt strong against her back. She was safe in his embrace. Trusted him to always have her back the way she trusted so few people in life. Laurel would have liked him, once she got past the ‘wanted criminal’ veneer. Actually, Sara probably would have paid good money to sit with Laurel and Thea and Felicity and watch Leonard and Oliver go at it. Len couldn’t quite beat Ollie at hand-to-hand or brooding, but snark, stealth, and bad boy cred were another story. And she’d still love to watch Leonard poke at Oliver’s stoic, no-nonsense attitude, but it wouldn’t be quite as funny without her sister.

Leonard sighed into her hair. “Rip’s a jackass.” She whuffled into his shirt. “Sleep, Sara. Maybe we can figure something out together in the morning.” She tightened her arm around him. “Gideon, sleep mode.” The lights dimmed. And, slowly, they fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next: We all return to STAR Labs, Sara and Lisa meet, and Leonard is pretty sure he'll wish they hadn't.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'll see you all in December, probably.


	11. The Noir Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return to STAR Labs, Lisa finally gets to have it out with her brother, and Sara picks up another stray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Winter Solstice! (And all the other holidays!)
> 
> Last night I sat up and wrote another chapter, which will be chapter 13, centered mostly on the actual events of Legendary but with Leonard alive. The events of the finale should take about two chapters, so this is looking to be 14-15 chapters. I don't think I'll have another up before the new year, but probably another shortly after. And I'll be working on the sequel as well.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoy!

 

_"The noir hero is a knight in blood-caked armor. He is dirty and he does his best to deny the fact that he's a hero the whole time." ~ Frank Miller_

 

* * *

 

As there was no morning in the temporal zone, Gideon saw fit to wake up the crew at the appropriate time. After they had achieved naps of optimal length and Barry and Iris had returned to the same state as when they had boarded the ship in 2016. The AI was a bit annoying as an alarm clock, but she got the job done.

“Barry,” Gideon said. “Ms. West.” They both mumbled groggily from the bed. Iris was stretched out along Barry’s side, her toes skimming his calf and her forehead tucked against his neck. “You have regained a level of rest nearly equivalent to that which you displayed when you came aboard in 2016.” She paused. “It is time to wake up so we may travel back to your home time period.”

Iris huffed against Barry’s collarbone. “We’re getting up, Gideon.” She looked down at Barry and shook him slightly with the hand on his chest. “C’mon Bar, time to get up.” He hummed sleepily. “Gideon’s orders.”

“I’m up,” he grumbled.

She chuckled. Barry didn't do mornings. “Don't make me tickle you.” He laughed sleepily and tightened his arm around her waist. With a sigh, he sat up. They did need to get back to their own time.

Gideon sounded sounded a chime in Sara’s room. “Ms. Lance, Mr. Snart, it is time to wake up.” Sara made a disgruntled noise. “We must return our guests to their time.”

“We get the picture,” Leonard said. “We're getting up.”

“No we're not,” Sara said. He smirked into her hair. After a moment, she huffed and said, “Fine, we're getting up.”

They all met back on the bridge, dressed in fresh clothes and no longer yawning. All except for Miranda and Jonas, who would still be confined to the stasis fields in medbay for the jump.

“Take your seats everyone and we’ll be on our way back to 2016,” Rip said, turning to sit in the captain’s chair.

Barry and Iris took the pair of seats directly to Rip’s right, and she took his hand as soon as they had pulled down their restraints. Sara dropped into the seat beside Iris, and Leonard sat down beside her. Mick and Ray took the next pair, and Jax and Stein the final seats. Once everyone’s restraints were secure, Rip double checked the stasis fields and engaged the time drive.

Returning to their home time was still easier than any other trip. Iris was a little dizzy and Ray’s vision was a little blurry, but all in all, no one suffered too much.

Rip stood from his seat. “Ms. Lance, please ensure our guests return to STAR Labs so we can be on our way.”

“On our way to where?” Ray asked. “We have no idea what to do about Savage yet.”

“You guys would be more than welcome to use some of the space at STAR Labs. And I’m sure Cisco wouldn’t mind helping out,” Barry offered.

“And Miranda and Jonas could always stay in our infirmary while you guys are away,” Iris added. “Barry’s dad is there and he’s a doctor. I’m sure it would be better than having to put them in stasis every time you jump.”

He paused to consider this. “Very well. We will all adjourn to STAR Labs to secure Miranda and Jonas and continue from there. Mr. Jackson, will you pilot the jump ship there and back for us?”

Jax looked up. “Yeah, sure.”

Rip detoured to the medbay to collect his wife and son before meeting everyone else on the jump ship. Jax sat at the controls, and the others were scattered throughout the passenger compartment. Though the jump ship could accommodate more than the full crew of a timeship, Sara and Leonard sat on the floor near the rear bulkhead. Their shoulders were pressed together - or rather her shoulder was pressed into his upper arm - and his head was tilted back. Hers lay on his shoulder. They were still, and calm, and at peace. It was the first time Rip had truly seen them this way without a deck of cards. He let a fond smile tug at his lips. Maybe it hadn’t been about the cards after all.

As soon as they were settled, Jax undocked from the Waverider. He piloted the cloaked jump ship over Central City until they reached the empty parking lot at STAR Labs.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the cortex at STAR Labs, Cisco looked up from his computer to see Lisa Snart walk into the room. She wore jeans and a leather jacket and carried her motorcycle helmet. One eyebrow was raised in vague annoyance.

“I only came because it was _you_ that called Cisco, and you said it was about Lenny,” she said, setting her helmet on the desk. “I haven’t seen him in months.”

“I know,” Cisco said.

“He left a note at one of our safe houses saying he’d be back. And he never came back.” She paused. “I’ve started to think something happened to him on a job.”

Cisco bit his lip. “Uh, kind of. Depends on how you define job.” She narrowed her eyes.

Before she could get more details out of him, Henry walked in behind her. “Oh, hello,” he said. He reached out a hand to shake hers. “Henry Allen.”

She smiled, turning on her charm. “Hi, I’m Lisa Snart.”

Recognition sparked behind his eyes. “I’ve met your brother.”

Lisa regarded him critically. “You don’t look like a crook.”

“Falsely accused, I’m afraid.”

“Really? Of what?” Crime was something she could talk about.

“My wife’s murder.” His voice wasn’t bitter or angry, just accepting.

“Oh god, I’m sorry.” She hadn’t expected that.

Henry gave her a soft look. “It was a long time ago. And now -” Cisco was shaking his head behind Lisa’s back. Somehow, Henry got the message: don’t use Barry’s name; she doesn’t know. “- my son is the Flash. He helped clear my name.”

“I’m starting to see why he and my brother get along.” Cisco snorted. “Well, more or less. Lenny likes to think they’re enemies, but he’s just trying to be tough.” Henry smirked. Lisa turned on Cisco again. “Speaking of Lenny, what’s this job he went on?”

“Uhhh, well, I mean he probably went for the score. But I guess score might have a different definition this time. He went with this, uhm, team.” Lisa raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

“Just tell her, Cisco,” Henry said.

“He and Rory went time travelling.”

“Time travelling?” she asked incredulously. He nodded. “You’re serious?” He nodded again, closing his eyes. She didn’t look happy with him. He opened them again at a soft thump. Lisa had dropped heavily into the chair across from him. “Why? What does that even mean? Where is he now? Or when? I guess.”

Cisco reached out a hand to rest on her forearm. “I don’t know why they went. Maybe they wanted to steal all through time.” He shrugged. “Some of the team is on their way back and they can explain everything to you.” She nodded.

After a moment, she nodded again and fixed him with a look. “How did you get my number anyway?”

His eyes skittered away and then back. “Well, I tracked your gun with our scans of the city. And then I hacked into your phone over the local wi-fi and got your number so I could call you.”

“That’s kind of rude, Cisco.”

“Sorry. Rory said he wanted to talk to you. And to make it happen within an hour.”

She smirked. “Are you afraid of Mick?”

“Yes,” he said in a tone of voice that suggested you’d have to be insane not to be. She snickered. An alert chimed on Cisco’s computer. He turned toward it, but didn’t remove his hand from Lisa’s arm. “We just picked up a burst of temporal energy, and it looks like the jump ship is on its way here.” He looked back at Lisa. “They should be here soon.”

* * *

Mick opened the jump ship’s hatch and ushered everyone out. Barry, with his cowl up, and Iris headed out first, followed by Rip and his family. Then Ray and Stein, and Leonard and Sara. Jax came out last, tucking the cloaking remote into his jeans pocket. Mick closed the hatch behind him and clapped Jax on the shoulder. As soon as they got inside, Barry pulled down his cowl. It felt weird to wear it when everyone already knew who he was and he didn’t need it to run.

About halfway down the hall, Leonard turned a corner away from the team. Sara followed, preemptively rolling her eyes. He was up to something.

“You’re not stealing tech from our friends,” she said.

“Your friends, not mine.”

“Right. That’s why Barry came to help save you. Because you’re _not_ friends.”

He paused. “I just assumed you threatened him.” She shot him a look. “You’re an assassin.”

“We asked and he said yes. So you’re not stealing from him after he saved your life.”

“Fine.” He followed her back into the main corridor and they continued after the rest of their team.

Rip stepped into the cortex with Miranda and Jonas. Cisco, Henry, and Lisa turned to look at him. None of them had ever met him, but Rip nodded familiarly.

“Hello Mr. Ramon, Dr. Allen, Ms. Snart,” he said.

“Hi?” Cisco said. He glanced at Henry with a look that could only be described as 'Who the hell is this?'

Barry and Iris stepped in just after them. Lisa raised an eyebrow at seeing Barry in his suit but without his mask. Cisco actually facepalmed.

“So you’re the Flash,” Lisa said. Barry smiled nervously. “Lenny wouldn’t tell me who you were no matter what I did, and now you just walk in without your mask.”

“You’d be surprised how often this happens to him,” Iris said in a long-suffering tone. “I swear, half of Central City knows who he is.” Lisa smirked. “I’m Iris, by the way. We met last year. Briefly.”

“I remember,” Lisa said. She shook Iris’s hand and looked at Barry. “But I never did catch your name.”

“Barry,” he said with a sigh. There was no avoiding it now.

Stein, Jax, and Ray had joined them in the cortex by this point. They watched the exchange with resignation, and in Jax’s case, amusement.

Cisco glanced around. “Where are Sara and Rory?” They were conspicuously absent.

“They were just behind us,” Jax said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder as he stepped around the desk.

Behind him, Henry was chatting with Rip and setting Miranda and Jonas up with wireless vital sign monitors. He bent to examine Jonas for a moment, then pulled a silly face at him. The young boy giggled.

Cisco glanced over Jax’s shoulder. “Hey, who’s the dude in the long coat? Is he a Time Lord?”

Ray grinned. “He used to be a Time Master. But they gave Savage power and he killed his wife and son.” He gestured vaguely at Rip’s family.

“They look alive,” Cisco said.

Ray nodded enthusiastically. “Sara saved them, planned the whole rescue. I mean, saving Miranda and Jonas was the whole point of this mission, well, and killing Savage.”

Mick stepped into the cortex. Ray and Cisco looked over at him. And Lisa, who had been listening in, fixed him with an expectant look. His lips curled into a small smile. He reached up to ruffle her hair and she blocked his hand with the practised ease of a little sister.

“I’ve been very patient,” she said. “You threatened Cisco into hacking my phone and no one will tell me what happened to Lenny. What the hell is going on, Mick?”

“Your brother’s an idiot,” he said. She just raised an eyebrow and looked unsurprised. She knew he was an idiot and a jerk; he was her idiot jerk brother. It didn’t answer her question, though. “Decided to be a hero.” For a moment, that didn’t compute. Then she thought the worst. It wouldn’t be the first time any of them had said it: being a hero just gets you dead. He opened his mouth to continue when Sara and Leonard walked in.

“You can raid the equipment lockers later,” Sara said. Leonard gazed down at her. Lisa watched the fond, teasing expression play across his features. This tiny, blonde girl meant something. Sara glanced over and the corner of her mouth ticked up. She nudged Leonard.

He looked up and a real smile curved his lips when he saw her. Lisa stood and before she realized it, she was in front of him. She hauled off and punched him in the chest. Then threw her arms around his neck. He hugged her back. Despite his confusion.

“You idiotic jerk!” She hit him again. “You just left me a note. I thought you were dead or in prison somewhere.”

A second of hesitation. Leonard didn’t normally apologize. “I’m sorry, Lis.”

“You better be.” She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t do it again.” Mick snickered. No one crossed Lisa, not even Leonard. With a mischievous smile, Lisa turned toward Sara. “Hi, I’m Lisa. Who are you and what exactly did you do to get my idiot brother to act like he has feelings?”

Sara had been holding it together through their whole exchange, but she couldn’t keep in her laughter anymore. “Sara,” she answered. “And you’d have to ask him. He hasn’t told me.” She leaned conspiratorially close. “Unless he’s this way with everyone who kicks his ass at gin.” Lisa grinned. So many opportunities to tease Lenny, and it seemed like Sara might get in on it with her.

Mick leaned over to Leonard. “That’s a deadly combination.”

“I know,” Leonard said, watching them warily.

“What really happened?” Lisa asked. “Cisco was rushing to find me, so something must have.” Leonard didn’t say anything. So Lisa looked at Sara.

She sighed. “Your brother’s an idiot.”

Lisa smirked. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Well, he’s a heroic idiot, which is a new twist for him.” Lisa raised her eyebrows. “Did Cisco tell you where we’ve been?”

“Just that you were time travelling.”

Sara nodded once. “Short version, someone had to stay behind to blow up a device that the Time Masters were using to control every life in the universe. Ray volunteered.” She jerked her chin at Ray. “And Mick took his place.” Lisa glanced at Mick. “And Leonard couldn’t live with that, so he knocked Mick out and took his place and he wouldn’t let me stay.”

“He did what?” Lisa looked at her brother. “You did what?” He floundered for an answer. “You’ve always said being a hero doesn’t pay. It just gets you dead. When did that change, Lenny?”

“It didn’t.” Her eyes widened. “But I didn’t know being a hero meant finding something you would willingly die for. And having a team that wouldn’t let you stay dead.” Sara smirked up at him. “Sara staged an impossible rescue.”

Lisa turned to Sara. “You saved him?” Sara nodded. Lisa stepped forward and wrapped Sara in a hug. After a shocked moment, Sara returned the hug, wrapping her arms tightly around Lisa’s back. Their height difference wasn’t quite as significant as hers and Leonard’s, but Lisa was definitely built like him, all tall and lanky. “Thank you,” Lisa whispered.

“Don’t worry, I have his back,” Sara whispered back. Lisa stepped back smiling. Then she looked at her brother.

“Why did you do it?” she asked.

Leonard glanced at their audience. Henry Allen had wandered in from the infirmary, though Stein and Rip were in there now.

He sighed. “Because I don’t like anyone pulling my strings. Especially not the Time Bastards. Even Ramon could throw them a hell of a lot farther than I trust them.” Lisa still looked expectantly at him. She could hear the omissions in his honest answer. “They could do anything, Lis. They had ultimate power. They could kill you. Or Mick. Or Sara. Faster than they could think it. And they would have. Everyone else here has someone to come back to.”

“You have me!”

“I need you safe more than you need me here.”

All her arguments died on her tongue. “I love you, you jerk, but if you ever die again, I will bring you back so I can kill you myself.”

Leonard heaved a put upon sigh.

“That’s what I said,” Sara said.

“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Lisa said.

“As much as I hate to break up this charming family reunion,” Rip said, “we really do need to strategize how we will rescue Ms. Saunders and Mr. Hall’s future incarnation, and stop Vandal Savage.”

Leonard rolled his eyes. But Sara was the one to answer. “Have you had any brilliant ideas since we walked in here? Last I checked, we had no idea where or when Savage took them.”

Cisco tapped his chin in thought. “I could probably write a program to look for anomalies in the timeline. Maybe Felicity could help.”

“How long would that take?” Ray asked.

“Uh.” He stopped to do a little math in his head. “Way too long.”

“Gideon is capable of searching for anachronistic alterations to the timeline, but there are hundreds of time pirates active throughout history. It would be incredibly difficult to isolate the specific anomaly that Savage created this time,” Rip said.

Lisa leaned over to mutter to Len and Sara. “The Brit’s kind of a drag.” Sara stifled a snort and Leonard didn’t even try to hide his smirk.

“I believe Team Flash has other matters to attend to at the moment,” Martin cut in. “Particularly, rescuing Dr. Snow. Perhaps we should reconvene on the Waverider and plan from the temporal zone.”

“Excellent suggestion, Professor,” Rip said. “Mr. Jackson, will you pilot us back?” Jax nodded and gave a half shrug. He didn’t mind being the pilot, but he kind of got the idea that Rip was trying to train him or something, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. “We’ll return for Miranda and Jonas as soon as possible. With any luck, within a few hours.”

Henry nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on them for you.”

“Thank you,” Rip said. He looked at Barry. “In the meantime, Mr. Allen, do try not to do anything drastic to the timeline.” Barry started to look offended, then conceded to the various knowing glares aimed at him. Rip nodded once and stepped into the infirmary to say goodbye to his family, allowing the others a moment to say goodbye to their friends.

“I’m coming with you,” Lisa said before Leonard could hug her goodbye.

“No,” he said.

“Yes,” she said back. God, it was like she was in preschool all over again.

“No, Lisa. You’re not coming. It’s dangerous.”

“I’m a thief, Lenny. Since when is my life safe?”

“She’s got a point,” Sara said.

“You’re not helping, assassin.”

“I’m not trying to, crook. I think she should come. She could help.”

“Where is she going to sit when we get Kendra and Carter back?”

“There are jump seats in the cargo hold, we’ll just send Ray down there and Lisa can stay on the bridge with us.”

His lips pulled up into a smirk. She had him. “Fine.”

“Thanks Lenny,” Lisa said, smacking a kiss on his cheek. “Maybe one day I’ll be a hero, just like you,” she teased. He frowned.

Sara smirked. “You know, when I’m in Star City I go out with a couple of other ladies to kick ass and raise hell. Teach a few jerks a lesson. You should come with us sometime. I feel like you’d love to take out the kind of targets we go after.”

“You realize you’re inviting my thief sister to hang out with a bunch of vigilantes,” Leonard said.

“Well, I was an assassin. If they have a problem with Lisa, they can go through me.”

Lisa smiled. She’d never had many female friends. “I might take you up on that, next time you’re in this decade.”

Iris and Barry walked up next to them. The rest of the team had mostly finished saying goodbye and were beginning to wander toward the door. Rip was still talking in low tones with Miranda. But the second he was done, guaranteed he would be hustling them out the door like the room was on fire.

“Good luck,” Iris said, reaching out to hug Sara, who smiled and hugged her back. “And be careful.” She gripped Lisa’s hand. A little bemused at being included, she squeezed back and smiled.

“Yeah, try not to need a rescue team this time,” Barry said, grinning at Snart. Leonard rolled his eyes but shook the proffered hand. Barry extended it to Mick as well, who had been slouching against the table beside Leonard. Mick shook it and grunted a thanks at him. “It was nice to finally meet you, Sara.”

“Yeah, we should do this again sometime. You know, without life or death consequences,” she said. Barry chuckled.

At that moment, Rip came out of the infirmary. “Alright, no more dawdling. Let’s get going!” Sara rolled her eyes and they all waved goodbye to the rest of Team Flash.

Lisa called, “Bye Cisco,” in a voice that was half flirtatious, but didn’t really reveal whether she’d forgiven him for hacking her phone or not. He swallowed reflexively and raised a hand to wave back.

It took a moment after this for Rip to realize Sara had picked up yet another stray. “Ms. Snart, why are you accompanying us to the jump ship?”

“Because I’m coming with.” She looked him in the eye. “Do you have a problem with that?”

He spluttered. “I - yes!”

Jax stood at the open hatch of the jump ship. “Rip, we could use all the help we can get to defeat Savage, right? If Lisa wants to come with us, we should be grateful.”

“Thank you, Jax,” she said, smiling.

“Sure. Fine. Whatever,” Rip said, preceding them into the jump ship. He looked about one rebellion away from actually throwing his hands in the air in frustration. Which, of course, delighted Sara and the Rogues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The team searches the timeline for Kendra, and Lisa gets a tour of the ship.
> 
> Also, the reference in this chapter to Sara going out with the Star City ladies to do vigilante work is a shout out to Girls Night On the Town by akire_yta. Check it out if you haven't read it!
> 
> Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays! I'll see you all in the New Year!


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